


Point-Blank Forgery

by AnnaTheHank



Series: Reverse!AU [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Android Gavin, Android Hank, Gen, Human AU, Human Connor, Human RK900, M/M, Twins connor and Rk900, eventually because I'm trash for this ship and can't escape it no matter how hard I try, not that I'm trying very hard, probably more characters eventually, reed900, reverse au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2019-07-08 17:34:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 31,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15935111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaTheHank/pseuds/AnnaTheHank
Summary: Human twins Connor and Nines get assigned new partners: Hank and Gavin. The catch? They're androids. Can these four learn to get along? Will they end up helping each other and becoming friends? Probably.





	1. New Partners

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all. Thanks for stopping by. I really hope you enjoy this, I can already tell it's going to be fun to write.

Lieutenant Connor Stern sat at his desk, staring blankly at his computer screen. Something flashed in the corner of his screen but he ignored it, blurry eyes focused on the cursor in the center. He heard the crumple of paper and then a wad of it bounced off his head. Scowling, he looked up at the desk across from his.

His brother, Nines, gestured to Connor’s computer and raised his eyebrows. Sighing, Connor clicked on the message that had popped up. It was from Nines.

‘Did you hear?’

Connor looked at him and Nines just gestured to the computer. Connor shook his head. ‘Hear what?’

‘New partners.’

Connor furrowed his eyebrows and looked at his brother. Nines rolled his eyes and started typing furiously at his keyboard.

‘Apparently after the fiasco at Jimmy’s we’re no longer fit to be partners. They’re sending over two androids from the Michigan City department.’

“Bullshit,” Connor said out loud. The other officers and detectives looked over at him and he shrank into his chair. He typed out, ‘Why the fuck are they sending us androids?'

Nines just shrugged and shook his head. ‘That’s all I know.’

Before Connor had the time to respond, the door to Captain Fowler’s office opened and he stepped out. “Stern,” he said, in his commanding but not entirely loud voice. “In my office.”

“Which one?” The twins asked in unison.

“Both of you.”

Nines gave Connor a look and the two of them followed Fowler into his office. Two androids stood to the side, talking amongst themselves. One was a bit taller and looked like he was in his mid-fifties, which Connor thought odd for an android design. The other was shorter and seemed to have some permanent damages on his face, particularly a large scar running across his nose and cheek. Connor scoffed. He didn’t know androids could get scars. Leave it to the DPD to assign them a broken android.

“These them then?” Nines asked.

The two stopped talking and looked over at their new partners, equally disappointed by the looks of their expressions.

“Hank, this is Lieutenant Connor Stern. Connor this is Hank,” Fowler said. 

The older looking android stepped forward, arm extended. Connor just stared at his hand, frowning. “Couldn’t I get the broken one instead?”

Fowler puffed out his chest and glared at him. Connor rolled his eyes and shook the android’s hand. Hank gripped his hand tightly, leaving white marks when they released.

“I look forward to working with you, Lieutenant,” he said.

“And Gavin this is Detective Richard Stern,” Fowler said. 

Nines stepped forward to shake his hand, glancing at Fowler. “Yeah, but people who actually like me call me Nines.”

Gavin shook his hand. “That’s an odd name, Detective.”

Nines gave Connor a look and stepped back, not bothering to explain. 

“I want you two to show them around, alright? Make them feel at home and get them started on that bar case,” Fowler said. He turned around to his desk and picked up a file, a sign to end the conversation.

“We can finish that case without them,” Connor said.

“Yes, because that display at Jimmy’s the other night was some top notch detective work,” Fowler said. He sat down at his desk and studied the four of them. “Close the door on your way out.”

Connor grumbled and stormed out of the office, Nines trailing behind him with a smirk. Hank and Gavin exchanged a look and followed their new partners into the bullpen.

“This is where we work,” Connor said, gesturing about the room. “Over there is the breakroom and down the hall are holding cells and interrogation rooms. There.” He sat down at his desk and fiddled with his computer, pretending to do work.

Nines watched him, an amused smile on his face. He looked over at the androids. “You’re going to have fun,” he told Hank. He chuckled and led the two over to a pair of empty desks. “You guys can work here. All the files on the case should be in the database.” Nines watched them sit down. “Although, at this point, we don’t have much to go on so we’re basically just waiting for him to strike again.” He laughed a little.

Gavin raised an eyebrow at him. “Didn’t you get some blood samples from the fight at Jimmy’s Bar?”

“Not in the system,” Nines said, walking away. “Must be fresh meat.”

Hank and Gavin looked at each other, a shared disappointment and worry for the future.

“Why the fuck did they have to assign us fucking androids?” Connor said when Nines sat back down.

Nines shrugged. “Maybe it’s someone's idea of a joke.”

“A pretty fucked up joke if you ask me,” Connor mumbled. He glared over at the two androids, who were exploring the case files and talking things over. “Just whose bright idea was this anyway?”

“Not sure,” Nines said. “I just heard Fowler talking about it this morning before they got here. You know, while you were still hungover.”

“Shut up,” Connor said, opening the case files on his own computer. He’d be damned if he let any android find a piece of evidence he missed.


	2. An average night at Jimmy's

Nines followed Connor into the bar, the two squirming their way past the usual number of customers to their spots at the bar. 

“Move,” Connor said to the two burly men who were sitting in the stools. 

The men turned to them, scowling. The one humphed and turned back to his drink.

“Maybe you didn’t hear me,” Connor said. He slammed his badge down on the bar and leaned over, getting in the man’s face. “Move.”

The man eyed the badge and frowned. His friend tapped him on the shoulder and gestured away. Connor didn’t back down as the man growled in his face before leaving. 

“What’s with the sudden burst of patronage?” Nines asked Jimmy as the two of them sat down.

“Being a crime scene really brings the attention,” Jimmy told him with a laugh. He set down glasses before them, already reaching for their usual choice of liquor. 

“Almost a crime scene,” Nines said. “Remember? We did stop him from killing. And, uh, you’re welcome by the way.”

Jimmy laughed. “Yeah, I’ll knock ten percent off your tab.”

“Saving your life?” Nines asked. “C’mon man that’s worth...fifteen at least.”

Jimmy shook his head and poured out their drinks. 

“Well, I tried,” Nines said to Connor as Jimmy walked to the other end of the bar.

“Do they have to have that shit on?” Connor asked. He stared at his drink, finger tapping hard against the bard. 

Nines looked over his head at the television. It was a college basketball game. A group of men at the tables seemed quite invested in it. 

“Hey what is this a sports bar?” Nines asked. He looked around, saw Jimmy occupied with the other customers, and got up, walking around to the inside of the bar. He found the remote to the tv and changed it to some romantic comedy movie channel. He shook his head. “Now that is quality content.”

The men at the tables erupted in anger, looking at him with red faces. Jimmy gave him a ‘come-on-dude’ face and started walking towards him.

“Alright, alright,” Nines said. “We’ll compromise.” He changed the tv to a football game. “Eh? Football? Yeah?” He looked at the group of men. They scowled at him but settled back down into their seats.

Jimmy grabbed the remote out of his hand and pointed at him. “Seven percent.”

“Fuck,” Nines said, making his way back to his seat. 

“We gotta find a way to get rid of them,” Connor mumbled.

“What? The sports guys? They’ll get over themselves, don’t worry.”

“Not them you idiot. The androids.”

“Ah.” Nines sipped at his drink. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, thinking better of it.

“I mean, they must be pretty terrible if they got transferred from Michigan City right? I mean, they wouldn’t get rid of their good androids. If such a thing even exists.”

Nines considered it, tilting his head. “Maybe they figured that you were so terrible at your job you needed one.” He sipped his drink again, smirking at his brother over the rim of his glass.

“Hey,” Connor said, “you got one too.”

“I am not above admitting to my faults,” Nines said. “And my biggest fault of all is that I have no faults.”

Connor rolled his eyes and downed his drink in one gulp. He gestured to Jimmy for another one. Jimmy raised his eyebrow at Nines, who nodded his head, before pouring it out.

“I don’t need you monitoring my drinking,” Connor said, taking his second glass more slowly. 

“Right,” Nines said. 

“I don’t,” Connor said, almost in a growl.

“And I agreed with you,” Nines said, shrugging.

Connor turned to say something else but his voice was cut off by the tone of both their phones ringing. 

“Well that’s just great,” Nines said, reading the alert. 

“They’re getting closer together,” Connor said. “At this rate, it’s gonna be one a night.”

“We’d better go,” Nines said. He pointed at Jimmy on their way out. “Seven percent don’t forget!”


	3. Crime Scene

It was raining when Connor and Nines arrived at the Thames Bar a few blocks away from Jimmy’s. 

“Fucking shit,” Connor said, shutting the car off and glaring at the police line across the bar’s entrance.

“What?” Nines asked. He leaned forward, staring past Connor’s body. Hank and Gavin were inside the bar, talking to a woman with tousled hair who was smoking a cigaret. “Well,” he said, sitting back. “At least they’re punctual.”

Connor shook his head and got out, slamming the car door behind him. Nines followed more quietly. 

“And then he was just there,” the woman said as the two walked into the bar. “He was just there, like out of nowhere.”

“He had to have come from somewhere,” Gavin said. “Perhaps he slipped in through the back?”

The woman shook her head and took a drag from her cigaret, her hand shaking. “He’s like a ghost.”

“Ghosts don’t exist,” Connor said. He avoided looking at the two androids. “Tell me what happened.”

“We’ve already got her statement, Lieutenant,” Hank told him. “We have it all recorded.”

“I wanna hear it from her, not a machine.”

The woman scratched at her cheek, looking around the room. She spotted the body in the back booth and broke into a sob, covering her face with her hands, smoke drifting up to the ceiling. Connor sighed.

“It’s alright,” Nines said, placing a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Why don’t we take you outside, huh?”

The woman nodded and Nines walked her out the door, Gavin following close behind.

“Three stab wounds,” Hank said, turning his attention to Connor. “All in the back by the neck.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Connor said, rolling his eyes. 

He walked over to the body. It was a man in his early thirties with short brown hair and green eyes that stared up at the ceiling. His mouth was slightly open, a trickle of blood trailing down his chin. He was half sitting, slumped against the wall. Blood had splattered across the back of the booth but other than the spilled drinks on the table, the bar was mostly clean.

“His name is Terrence Jones,” Hank said. He stood next to Connor, looking down at the scene with an expressionless face.

“Fantastic,” Connor said. He walked around to the back of the booth and crouched down, looking at the stab wounds. 

“He co-owned the bar with his brother, Jordan,” Hank said, not moving from his post.

“Uh-huh.” The wounds were in perfect alignment, each equal distance from each other, and each as deep and as wide as the one before. Just like all the others.

“Lieutenant, are you listening to me?” Hank asked.

“Yup.” Connor looked down at the ground. A few drops of blood and found their way down there. As well as something shiny. Connor hummed.

Hank finally moved, crouching next to him. He reached under the bench and grabbed the knife that had slid under.

“Hey watch it!” Connor yelled. “You’re gonna contaminate...the...evidence,” his voice trailed off, realizing what he was saying.

“Androids don’t have fingerprints, lieutenant,” Hank reminded him.

“I fucking know,” Connor said. “Jesus.”

Hank held the knife by the blade and the two stood back up. 

“No signs of prints on the hilt,” he said. “The killer must have been wearing gloves.”

“All witness accounts say he does,” Connor pointed out.

Hank nodded. He placed the knife back on the ground for the forensics team. Then he licked the blood off his fingertips.

“What the actual fuck?” Connor said, taking a step back.

“I am fully equipped with the ability to test samples in real time,” Hank said. “Didn’t you know?”

“Whatever,” Connor said. He pushed past Hank. “That’s real fucking disgusting.”

“It’s the victim’s blood,” Hank said, looking at Connor over his shoulder.

“No fucking shit, Sherlock,” Connor said. “It doesn’t take a test sample to deduct that.”

“My name is Hank, Lieutenant.”

“Jesus Christ,” Connor said. He found a nearly-full glass on the counter and chugged it down.

Hank’s expression opened wide. “You really shouldn’t drink like that, Lieutenant. For starters, you have no idea what could be in that.”

“Scotch,” Connor said, with a little cough. He wiped his lips. “And a really bad one, too. Look, there’s nothing more to see here. It’s just like all the others. I’m going home.”

“I still believe there’s more to investigate here,” Hank said, walking up to Connor.

“Then stay here for all I care.” Connor pushed past him again. “You guys are free, do whatever the fuck you want.”

He walked outside, standing under the awning, staring at the rain as he dug his keys out of his pocket. Nines and Gavin walked up to him.

“Witness was a regular of the bar,” Nines told him. “And I’m pretty sure she was fucking the guy.” He nudged at Gavin with a smirk but the android just stared at him with furrowed eyebrows. Nines made a face and turned back to Connor.

“Great,” Connor said. He unlocked the car with his fob. “C’mon. We’re done here.”

“So you’re the only one who gets to look at all the blood?” Nines asked. 

Connor huffed. “Are you coming or not?” 

“I could always drive you home when you’re finished, detective,” Gavin said.

“Yeah,” Nine said, making a face at him. “I think I’ll take my chances with the drunk.”

He laughed and followed Connor back to the car. Hank joined Gavin outside and the two looked at each other, equally concerned.


	4. The morning after

Connor woke up late for work the next day. He rubbed his head, trying to remember what had happened. He remembered the bar, the murder. He had some vague recollection of Nines yelling at him over something...maybe it was the empty bottle of scotch that was laying on his bedroom floor. It was probably about the empty bottle.

Connor took his time getting ready, taking a shower and cleaning himself off. It was three hours past his shift when he finally arrived.

“That’s for waking me up, asshole,” he said as he sat down at his desk.

“I don’t recall ever waking you up, Lieutenant.”

Connor looked up. He had walked to his desk without really paying attention. Nines was sitting in the desk across from him. In fact, all of his stuff had been cleared out; all the post its and stickers had been taken down, the once cluttered desk now clean and empty. Empty save for the android sitting at it.

Connor scanned the room and found Nines and all his stuff sitting at the desk on the other side of the room, across from Gavin. They were chatting to each other and the android smiled before turning back to his computer.

“Get up,” Connor said, stalking across the room. Hank followed dutifully.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Connor asked, standing next to Nines, looking down at him over crossed arms.

“Uh...my job?” Nines said, spinning around in his chair.

“What are you doing over here?” Connor said.

“Oh. Well, Gavin here suggested that we should be sitting with our new partners and I thought that was a fantastic idea. So we swapped places this morning.”

“That’s a terrible idea, get your stuff and go back.”

“No can do.” Nines turned around and started typing something on his computer. A bing sounded from Gavin’s computer and the android smirked.

Connor growled and stormed back to his desk, the officers and detectives in his path rushing out of the way and avoiding eye contact. He flopped down at his desk and glared at his screen.

“I assure you, Lieutenant,” Hank said, sitting at his own desk, “this is a much more productive set-up.”

Connor ignored him, scowling. He wasn’t going to give the android the satisfaction. 

“Perhaps we should look over the case together,” Hank suggested. “After all, last night was quite the exception.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Connor asked. He shook his head and finally looked up at Hank, staring at him sharply.

“Well, last night was the only time that the murderer left the weapon behind,” Hank said. He typed on his keyboard and turned his monitor around. On it was the crime scene picture of the knife and some notes about it written on the side.

“So he was a little rushed leaving,” Connor said. “There still wasn’t any genetic evidence around, so there’s nothing to go on.”

“I disagree,” Hank said. “I think this is a lead and we should investigate it further.”

“You can do whatever you want,” Connor said. He heard Nines laughing and looked over. The two of them were leaning over their desks, whispering. He rolled his eyes.

Hank got up and walked around their desks to stand by Connor's desk. His tall figure loomed over him, his shadow falling over his computer. “Lieutenant, I would highly suggest that you pull yourself together. This is a place of work, not temper tantrums. If you aren’t going to do your job, you might as well go home.”

Connor pushed himself up, looking up a few inches to make eye contact. “Just who the fuck do you think you are? I am your boss, if you haven’t noticed. You don’t have the right to talk to me like that.”

“A boss deserves respect when he earns it,” Hank said. “I don’t see a man deserving of respect, I only see a baby.”

“Oh fuck off,” Connor told him.

Hank sighed. “I warned her you would react this way. Yet still, she insisted.”

Connor squinted at him. “Who the fuck are you talking about.”

“Dr. Leeland.”

Connor went past range and entered a whole new level of anger. He grabbed Hank’s coat and pushed him against the wall. “What the fuck were you doing talking to her?”

“It was her idea,” Hank told him. 

“What?”

“Our partnership. She suggested it.”

Connor felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over at Nines. His brother nodded towards Fowler’s office, where the door was open and the captain was watching them from the doorway. 

Connor scowled and released Hank. The android brushed off his clothes and looked at Connor with an expressionless face. Connor pushed past Nines and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Nines asked. 

“Lunch,” Connor said.

“It’s ten a.m,” Nines said.

“Breakfast than.”

Nines looked between Hank and Gavin. “I should probably go deal with that,” he said, before following his brother out of the station.


	5. Progress

Connor got into his car, his hands shaking too much to get the key in the ignition right away. The passenger door opened and Nines slipped in, methodically putting on his seat belt. Connor finally got the car started and gripped the steering wheel.

“Where we goin’?” Nines asked him.

“Get out,” he said, staring out the front window.

“Ya know, if you kick me out, all I’m gonna do is get in my car and follow you,” Nines said. “Then I'll just have to spend all week complaining about wasting gas.”

Connor groaned and pulled the car out of the parking spot.

“You should put on your seatbelt,” Nine said. He patted the belt across his chest and smiled.

“Shut up or I’m throwing you out,” Connor said.

“Hard to throw me out with this seat belt on.” Nines smirked. Connor rolled his eyes. “But seriously tho, where we going?”

Connor was silent. His mouth formed into a frown and he hunched over the wheel as he drove, merging onto the highway.

“Cause, uh, I hate to do it but if you are on your way to murder Dr. Leeland I will have to arrest you,” Nines said.

“She had no right!” Connor shouted, slamming one hand on the wheel. “Just who the fuck does she think she is saying I need a goddamn android partner?”

“Uh, your therapist?” Nines said.

“I never should have gone to that crackpot in the first place,” Connor said.

“Well if you didn’t then you’d still not be working.”

“It’s ridiculous. I don’t need to talk to some doctor just to do my fucking job.”

Nines raised an eyebrow but didn’t respond to that. He looked out the window. “When was the last time you even went to see her? Aren’t you supposed to be going once a week?”

Connor ground his teeth. “She wasn’t helping.”

“Were you even trying?”

Connor jerked the wheel to the side and pulled the car to a stop on the shoulder. “Get out,” he growled.

“Con, come on,” Nines said. “You can’t expect anything to change if you don’t try.”

“I’m not going to talk to some stranger about Dad, okay?”

Nines nodded. “Maybe it was a bad idea that you went back to work so soon.”

“Why? You practically went to work the next day.”

“Yes but I am well adjusted and emotionally stable.”

Connor scoffed. “I couldn’t just not do anything. It was insufferable.”

“So then do it.”

Connor squinted at him. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Do your job, Connor. Go solve that bar case. Ya know? Work with Hank, and get it done. Gavs and I will step back and you just, solve it.”

“Gavs?”

“Don’t change the subject. We both know that you’re not really trying with this case. That’s not what Dad would have wanted.”

Connor sighed and adjusted his grip on the steering wheel. “He’s just so...judgmental.”

“So don’t give him anything to judge,” Nines suggested.

“If only it were that easy. Sure you don’t wanna swap androids?”

Nines chuckled. “Nah we’re good.” He looked down at his hands in his laps, smiling.

“What the actual fuck, dude?” Connor turned the car back on and rejoined the traffic.

“It’s nothing,” Nines said. “You still hungry? There’s that bagel shop that opened up a few blocks away we haven’t tried yet.”

“What is it with you and bagels?” Connor asked, already turning towards the shop.

“What? They’re delicious. Oh, and they have those cinnamon raisin ones.” Nines sighed, staring longingly out the window.

“You are so weird.”

After they had their bagels, the twins returned to the office, where Gavin was sitting next to Hank’s desk the two of them chatting. He stood up upon seeing them. 

“I got your message, Detective,” Gavin said. “Fowler assigned us a new double homicide.”

“I love double homicides,” Nines said. “They’re so...multiplicationy.”

“What’s this about?” Hank asked them.

“Gavs and I are gonna step back from the bar case. You and Connor got this.”

“Gavs?” Hank asked, raising an eyebrow at Gavin. The other android just shrugged and led Nines back to their desks.

Connor sat down at his computer and bit his lip. He took a minute to muster up his energy before saying, “so that knife.”

“Yes?”

“No fingerprints right?” He sighed. He sounded so stupid. Hank shook his head. “And all of the blood on it belonged only to the victim?”

“That is correct,” Hank said, eyeing Connor cautiously.

“Right, well, where’s that witness’ statement?” Connor turned his computer back on and opened the case files. “Maybe there’s something she saw.”

“She was pretty distressed,” Hank said. “There’s not much there to work with.”

Connor scanned over the transcript. “She said she was hit on the head?” Connor looked up to Hank for an explanation.

“Yes. If I remember correctly she said the person in the booth behind them hit her while standing up.”

Connor looked back at the transcript. “And that was right before the murder happened...Do we know who was sitting there?”

Hank shook his head. “I highly doubt that person could have hit her on the head and then run around to kill the victim in the span of a few seconds.”

Connor rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t suggesting that,” he said. He was finally starting to feel a little less idiotic. “What I’m saying is that maybe our killer knew this guy. If I was in the process of murdering someone and saw a guy I knew, I might be surprised enough to drop my weapon. Especially if I’m trying to get out of there quick.”

“Do you have a lot of experience murdering people,” Hank asked, a smile playing at the edge of his lips.

Connor stared at him. Was he really making jokes now? Was that a thing that was actually happening? He wasn’t aware androids could even make jokes. He smiled a little back.

“I know they’re off the case,” he said, pulling up the list of customers that had attended the bar last night, “but I think we should send Nines and Gavin to discover the seating arrangements. Don’t you?”

Hank looked over his shoulder. Gavin was sitting on the edge of Nine’s desk, the two of them focused on something on Nine’s computer. They were laughing.

“They do look entirely too comfortable over there,” Hank said.

The two shared a smile.


	6. Tomas Greer

Nines leaned his head against the wall and sighed. “I hate him, you know.”

“No you don’t,” Gavin said. He knocked on the apartment door. 

“I do,” Nines said. “He knows I hate canvassing. It’s so fucking boring. And yet he sends me out to do it.”

“You could have said no,” Gavin told him. He knocked again.

“And incur the wrath of Lieutenant Stern?” Nines said, exaggerating his voice. “Not a chance.”

Gavin smiled and shook his head. He knocked a third time, pounding his fist against the door.

“Wh-who’s there,” a voice called out. Nines straightened up, studying the door with interest.

“Detroit police,” Gavin said. “We have a few questions.”

It was quiet. Nines leaned closer trying to hear if the guy in the apartment was escaping through a window. The door swung open and Nines startled backward. The man standing inside was small and thin, looking up at the two of them with wirey eyes. 

“Are you Mr. Tomas Greer?” Gavin asked, knowing the answer.

The man nodded. “What do you want?”

“We have a few questions about the murder that happened last night at Thames Bar.”

“I had nothing to do with that,” the man said, looking up and down the hallway.

“Oh,” Nines said. He shrugged and looked at Gavin. “Well I’m convinced.”

Gavin rolled his eyes. “Were you sitting in the booth behind the victim?” he asked.

The man jumped and hissed a bit. “Don’t be so loud,” he said. He looked around the hall again, Nines following his gaze. “Just come in. Quick.”

He urged the two inside and closed the door, locking it. The apartment was dark, on a small sliver of light filtering in between the dark window shades.

Nines went to move around, and tripped over a stack of newspapers, almost falling if not for Gain grabbing his arm and pulling him back up.

“I don’t know nothing,” Tomas hissed at them.

“You said that.” Nines straightened his shirt. “What I wanna know is why you don’t know nothing.”

“If you’re worried about your safety,” Gavin said, “the DPD has a wonderful protection program.”

“And plea bargains,” Nines said with a soft laugh.

Gavin shot him a look and shook his head. Nines just shrugged, the smile still on his lips.

“I can’t,” Tomas said. He paced around the room, his face becoming recognizable in the small moments he passed through the light stream.

Nines sighed, placing his hands on his hips. “Look, buddy, we’ve got all day. So the sooner you start talking the sooner we get to leave.”

The man stopped. The left half of his face hidden in the shadows, the green of his right eye shimmering in the sunlight. “You wouldn’t believe me.”

“Try us,” Nines said.

The man opened his mouth to talk but he was cut off by the bullet that broke through his head, accompanied by the breaking of glass.

“Holy shit.” Nines ran to the window, gun in one hand, holding the shade back with the other. He scanned the windows of the apartment across the street but saw no movement in any of them. “Hey, can you like calculate the angle of the bullet or whatever and figure out where the shot came from.”

“Detective,” Gavin said, his voice strained. “You should see this.”

Nines looked back at the body. A stream of blue liquid flowed down the floor, following the crevice of the hardwood down to the window.

“An android?” Nines said, stepping towards the body. Shocks of electricity sparked from Tomas’ head where the bullet had hit him.

“I didn’t know,” Gavin whispered. “I-I couldn’t tell.”

“Well, isn’t that the point?” Nines asked, raising an eyebrow at the android.

Gavin shook his head. “No. I should have seen it. Unless...they were unregistered?”

“They don’t look like any android I’ve seen before,” Nines said, toeing at the head so he could see the face better. “Maybe they’re a new model?”

“Maybe,” Gavin said. “But it is odd.”

Nines humphed. “I’ll call it in. Besides, it’s not technically our case so why should we have to deal with it huh?” He smiled at Gavin.

“Are you always this happy around death?” Gavin asked. 

Nines shrugged and pulled out his phone. “Better than being depressed.”

Gavin nodded and looked down at the body, watching the pool of thirium spread across the wood. He was beginning to understand Lieutenant Stern’s tendency towards drink.


	7. A strange android

“Why are we still here again?” Nines asked, leaning over to whisper in Gavin’s ear.

“We are witnesses to the crime, detective. We must give our statements.”

Nines watched Connor and Hank step into the apartment, focusing on the body on the ground.

“We’re cops,” Nines said. “Can’t we just take our own statements?”

Gavin just gave him a look and Nines sighed, a bit overdramatic, drawing the attention of his brother. Connor rolled his eyes and walked up to them, hands on his hips.

“Why is it always you?” he asked.

“Need I remind you that it was your idea I go here,” Nines said. “And, for the record,” he said to Gavin, “this is the first time an unregistered android was killed in front of me through a window shot across the street.”

“That was...oddly specific. How many androids have been killed in front of you?”

Nines held a finger up, about to give an answer, then thought better of it, turning back to Connor. “Can I go home now?

“Tell us what happened,” Hank said, finished with his inspection of the body. 

“That’s my line,” Connor said, holding an arm out to stop him. “Tell me what happened.”

“Well, see,” Nines said, in a thick ‘surfer’ accent. “We were like, sitting around having a totes normal conversation-”

“Nuh-uh,” Connor said, stopping him. He turned to Gavin. “You tell me what happened.”

“The android admitted to knowing the criminal,” Gavin said. “And he seemed very frightened about this fact.”

“Probably justified,” Nines said. “Considering.”

“He was about to suggest a scenario we wouldn’t believe when he was shot through the window,” Gavin said, ignoring Nines.

Connor frowned and turned to the body. He looked at the small slit in the window curtains. “That’s a hell of a shot.”

“Must have been an expert marksman,” Hank agreed.

“So we’re good here right?” Nines asked, stepping between them, wrapping his arms around their shoulders. “We can go?”

Connor glared at him until he took his arm away, leaning against Hank instead.

“Just leave,” Connor said. “No need to bother us.”

Nines spun around triumphantly. “Score.” He then wrapped his arm around Gavin’s shoulder, the android eyeing it with a raised eyebrow. “Let’s vamous.”

“I don’t believe you’re using that word properly,” Gavin said, letting Nines steer him out of the apartment.

“What a headache,” Connor mumbled, turning his attention back to the window.

“The case or your brother?” Hank asked. He knelt down next to the body, examining the head.”

“Both,” Connor said. He held back the window coverings and looked across the street. 

“Detective Stern already ordered a sweep of the apartment and surrounding streets,” Hank said, standing back up. Connor turned around, watching the android’s LED blink. “I’ve just alerted officers to the apartment number the shot came from.”

Connor looked between Hank and the apartment building. “How the fuck do you know which room the shot came from?”

“Basic math,” Hank said, a smirk on his face.

Connor ground his teeth. “Yeah, I’m sure a five-year-old could do that.”

“If that five-year-old understand angle trajectories, then yes,” Hank said.

Connor put his hands on his hips and looked down at the android body. “Do we know anything about this guy?”

Hank studied the android’s face. “All that’s in the system is his name, address, and an apparent fake birthday and social security number.”

“How did he manage to get into the system like that?” Connor asked.

“Perhaps, if this is a new model, he had advanced hacking capabilities.”

Connor shuddered. 

“Gavin mentioned he wasn’t able to identify him as an android just by looking at him. Neither could I.”

“Is that so unusual?”

Hank frowned. “Yes. Usually, it’s very easy to tell another android by scanning them, regardless of how popular of a model they are. To not be able to notice...something must be going on.”

“Well, once forensics gets all their photos in we can take the body back to the station and see what it is that is going on.”

Hank nodded slowly, his face still frowning, still looking down at the body.

Connor thought, fuck you Nines, before asking, “Something else the matter?” through gritted teeth.

Hank’s face startled and he looked up at Connor as if surprised to find him there. “No, Lieutenant. Sorry.”

At this point, Connor really didn’t care. “Great. I’m going to go check what else we have on this guy. You let me know whatever you find out about why you can’t scan him right.”

He gave Hank a small pat on the shoulder on his way out.


	8. A favor

It took a while for the crew to clean up the crime scene and take the body back to the station. Byt the time Hank returned to the office, Nines, Gavin, and Connor had already left. He figured the autopsy wouldn’t happen until tomorrow so he walked back to the apartment that he was sharing with Gavin. Just as he was about to open the door to the building, his phone rang.

It was Nines.

“Detective,” Hank said.

“Oh, Hank, great! Look I’m sooo glad you answered. I need you to do me a favor.”

Hank raised an eyebrow. The man spoke with a flustered voice between heavy breaths. He could hear movement and rustling in the background.

“What favor?”

“I need you to go check on Connor.”

“...You need me to go check on Lieutenant Stern?”

“Yes, Connor, yeah, him.”

Hank shook his head. “Why?”

“He sometimes -ah- does this thing -uh- where he gets really drunk and passes out and sometimes chokes on his saliva.”

Hank raised an eyebrow and listened more intently to the background noise. There was someone else there with Nines, and they were whispering something Hank couldn’t quite make out.

“Is everything alright, Detective?” 

“Yes yes I’m fine.” Hank heard him whisper “stop it” at the other person. 

Hank huffed and adjusted his stance. “Why can’t you go check on him. He is your brother.”

“I’m a bit tied up with something at the moment,” Nines said.

Or someone, Hank thought.

“Besides. You’re his partneeeeeer. It’ll be a good bonding moooooooment.”

Hank grumbled. It wasn’t like he had any plans that night. “Fine,” he said. 

“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you,” Nines said before abruptly hanging up.

Hank spun around and walked the few blocks over to the twins’ apartment. Hank saw the light on through the window and walked the three stories up to their door. He knocked. “Lieutenant? It’s Hank.”

There was no response.

Hank knocked again, a little louder. Maybe he had fallen asleep? “Lieutenant Stern, are you there?”

He heard a bang and the shattering of glass.

“I’m coming in Lieutenant!” Hank called out before slamming his shoulder against the door, breaking the lock and forcing it open.

Connor was sitting on the floor, spilled glass and alcohol around him. He held one hand close to his body as blood poured from it. He looked up at Hank in a drunken haze. 

“What the fuck? What’d you do that for?”

“I’m sorry Lieutenant,” Hank said, shutting the door as much as he could. “You didn’t answer and I figured you might be in trouble.”

“Well, I’m fine.” Connor placed his good hand on the coffee table and tried to push himself up. His feet slipped in the alcohol spill and he thumped back to the floor.

“You’ve hurt yourself,” Hank said, studying the shards of glass in Connor’s hand. 

“I’ve had worse.” Connor got himself to his knees, breathing heavily at the effort. 

Hank scanned the room. The television played some comedy sitcom, the laughs of the audience amplifying the scene. An empty bottle of whiskey was sitting on the coffee table next to an empty pizza box. The bottle that had broken seemed to have been mostly full. Hank figured Connor broke it trying to open it. At least he had eaten something.

Hank stepped forward and grabbed Connor’s arm, pulling him to his feet.

“Get off me,” Connor grumbled, pulling his arm away. He swayed to the other side and Hank grabbed him. “I said get off.” Connor tried to pull away but he was too weak to fight.

“Let me help,” Hank said. He grabbed Connor around the waist, putting Connor’s arm over his shoulder. 

Connor grumbled as Hank led him down the hall to the bathroom. Hank sat Connor on the edge of the tub and opened their medicine cabinet. He did his best to ignore the various anti-depressant pill bottles and grabbed the tweezers and roll of gauze.

“I don’t need your help,” Connor mumbled. 

Hank said nothing, just sat down and grabbed Connor’s injured hand. He glanced over and noticed that Connor’s eyes were half closed and his head bobbed up and down slowly. The man winced when Hank pulled out a shard of glass, but he was silent.

Hank finished pulling out the glass and then washed the cuts with soap and water, finding no adequate cut cleaner. Then he wrapped Connor’s hand in the gauze, satisfied that none of the cuts were deep enough to require stitches.

“Thanks, nurse,” Connor said, standing up. He swayed a bit and Hank went to grab him but he steadied himself. “Now get the fuck out of my apartment.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Lieutenant,” Hank said. “You seem to be distressed and leaving you alone could have dire consequences.”

Connor stumbled out of the bathroom, Hank following close behind to catch him if he fell again. 

“The only thing I’m distressed about it a lack of whiskey. So if you really want to help you could be a good little android and go get me some.”

Connor fell onto the couch and rested his head against the back, moaning softly.

“I don’t think so,” Hank said, sitting down on the chair. 

Connor closed his eyes and Hank looked around the room properly. There was a pair of built-ins surrounding the television. They were filled with books and knick-knacks. It was easy to see which shelves belonged to who. Connor’s were neat, with non-fiction and true crime books, a few awards and trophies bookending some. Nines were a haphazard mess of various mystery novels and small trinkets. The rest of the room was mostly bare. One painting hung on the back wall, but there were spots against the rest of the paint that indicated pictures had once been there but were since removed. 

Hank noticed one such picture sitting face down on the table. He glanced at Connor. The man was awake, but his eyes were still closed. Hank reached forward and studied the picture. It was Connor and Nines when they were in high school. They wore matching jerseys and Nines held a basketball under one arm. They stood on a school court with a man between them, arms wrapped around their shoulders. Dr. Leeland had told Hank that Connor’s father had died, but she didn’t mention it was so recent. 

Hank studied Connor’s face. The man was hardly fit for duty. What had they been thinking letting him work again?

Hank cleared his throat. “You played basketball?” He asked, trying to open up some conversation.

Connor opened his eyes and then leaned over, swatting away the picture. It fell to the floor, the frame cracking a bit. “Nope.”

Hank opened his mouth to say something but Connor cut him off. “Look. I’m too damn tired to fight you. If you’re gonna stay you’re gonna be still and quiet? Got it?”

Hank sighed. “Got it.”

“Good.”

Connor turned the sound up on the T.V. Hank watched him until the man’s head drooped to sleep. Hank turned the T.V. off and picked Connor up. He carried the man down to his bedroom and placed him on the bed. Connor stirred a bit as Hank pulled the covers around him but he thankfully didn’t wake.

After making sure the man wasn’t going to be sick, Hank went back out to the living room and started cleaning up the mess. He even found the twins’ tools and fixed up the door. It would need a professional but it would work for a quick fix. He sighed and sat back down in the chair.

He figured that Connor would probably be fine alone all night. But just in case he wasn’t, Hank decided it was best if someone was there. 

The night passed slow.


	9. Android talk/twin talk

The next morning Hank check that Connor was still alive and sleeping well before he headed back to his apartment. He needed to change his clothes before work. He didn’t need anyone thinking he was a drunk just cause he spent the night in one’s apartment.

When he entered the apartment he heard voices coming from down the hall. One was Gavin. The other was Nines. Hank sighed and shook his head. He went to his own room and changed slowly, waiting until he heard the front door open and close before he came out.

A half-dressed Gavin greeted him in the hallway. “Good Morning, Hank.”

“Apparently,” Hank said with a smirk.

“Don’t,” Gavin warned him.

But Hank did. He followed the other android back to his room. “What are you thinking? You can’t have a relationship with Nines.”

“It’s not a relationship,” Gavin said, slipping into a new shirt. He faced the mirror, buttoning up the shirt. “It’s simply getting along.”

Hank leaned against the door frame. “Getting along very well.”

Gavin sighed and looked at Hank through the mirror. “Nines uses humor and flirting as a way to cope with the death of his father.” He looked away again, focusing on his jacket. “I simply discovered that acting in a similar fashion allows me to work better with him. I adapted to his personality, as we are to do.” He turned around. “Honestly, I’m a little surprised you haven’t found a way of dealing with Lieutenant Stern yet.”

Hank shook his head. “Connor is too erratic. One moment he refuses to speak to me and the next he’s surprisingly open and willing to work. I can’t pin him down yet.”

“His father was a Lieutenant as well,” Gavin said. “You could use that. He seems motivated by work.”

“Bringing that up will only cause turmoil,” Hank said.

“So do it subtly.”

Hank nodded at the messy bed. “Because that’s so subtle.”

Gavin smirked at him and picked his bag up off the floor. “Come on, we’ll be late.”

*

When Nines got home he found that the door to the apartment opened easily with a slight push. He looked at the door frame, seeing it broken. If Connor hadn’t been standing in the kitchen he would have been worried.

“What the hell happened here last night?” Nines asked.

Connor spun around, his eyes wide. “Where the fuck were you last night?”

“I don’t think you wanna know,” Nine said.

Connor walked up to him, well, stomped up to him. He grabbed Nine’s shirt. “Did you tell that android to come over?”

Nines looked around the room and pursed his lips. “No?”

Connor shoved him and Nines stumbled back a little bit.

“What were you thinking? I don’t want that fucking machine in our home.”

“I was thinking, gee, it sure would be great if my brother didn’t die,” Nines said. He pointed down at Connor’s hand. “What happened anyway?”

Connor scowled at him and turned away, walking back into the kitchen. 

“Ah, the beautiful, beautiful silence.” 

Nines walked down to his room and changed. Connor was still standing over the sink, fuming, when Nines came back. He watched his brother as he grabbed a bagel. 

“Look, I’m sorry, alright?” Nines said as he put the bagel in the toaster. “I didn’t know who else I should call.”

“No one,” Connor said. “If you’re not here, you’re not here. I don’t need someone watching me every goddamn second of every goddamn day.”

Nines poured himself a cup of coffee. “Whatever you say, Lieutenant.”

Connor growled a bit and turned to face his brother. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Nines sipped his coffee. “You mean right now or in general?”

Connor shoved him again. Nines fell back against the counter, his mug spilling coffee on his shirt. “What the fuck, dude?”

“Is everything a damn joke to you?”

Nines straightened up. “I’m guessing the answer you’re looking for is no?”

Connor groaned and shoved him again.

“Okay you have got to stop that,” Nines said, placing his half-empty mug on the counter.

“Don’t get you ever get mad?” Connor asked. “Or are you so emotionally stunted that you don’t feel anything. Are you even sad that Dad’s gone?”

“You wanna see me mad?” Nines asked.

“I’d like to see any kind of emotion, yeah.”

“Fine,” Nines said. “I’ll show you mad.”

Then he punched Connor in the face. Connor stumbled back, holding his nose as blood escaped through this fingers.

“There,” Nines said, turning around to the toaster which had just popped. “Mad.”

Connor rushed forward and grabbed Nines around the waist, pulling him back and tossing him to the tiled floor.

“Really?” Nines asked.

He rolled out of the way as Connor aimed a kick at him. He swept at Connor’s other leg, taking his twin down with him. Before Connor could regain himself Nines rolled over and straddled him, grabbing his shirt and pulling him up a bit.

Nines shook Connor. “You are so full of yourself,” he growled. 

He punched Connor again. Then Connor bucked his body to the side, throwing Nines off him. Nines tried to scramble away but Connor climbed on top of him, punching him with equal force. “And you’re too dead inside to give a shit about what’s going on around you.”

Nines reached up and pushed Connor off. They lay next to each other on the floor, both panting.

Nines grabbed at the stain on his shirt. “Now I’m gonna need a new shirt,” he said. “Thanks.”

Connor gently rubbed his nose. “You almost broke it, asshole.”

Nines got to his feet. He brushed himself off saying, “lucky for you, I have restraint.” 

He walked over to the freezer and pulled out the two ice packs. He tossed one down to Connor and placed the other against his eye. He was already formulating what they would say to their co-workers.


	10. Phone Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for dropping off the face of the planet.  
> I promise more coming real soon

“What happened to you?” Gavin asked, watching Nines walk up to their desks with a purple eye.

“Oh, I was mugged,” he said.

Gavin startled. “What?”

“And surprisingly,” Nines said, sitting down, “all he wanted was my banana.”

Gavin furrowed his eyebrows at him and frowned. “I...I don’t understand, detective.”

“It’s nothing,” Nines said, smiling at him softly. “Just boys being boys, ya know?”

“I’m afraid I don’t.” Then Connor walked in with his discolored nose and Gavin nodded. “Ah, I see.”

 

Connor sat down at his desk, ignoring the questioning look that Hank gave him.

The android cleared his throat, although Connor was pretty sure androids didn’t need to do that, and said, “I trust you slept well, Lieutenant.”

“You know damn well I didn’t,” Connor said. He chugged from his coffee mug, the heat traveling down his throat and heating his stomach.

“There’s no need for such language, Lieutenant,” Hank said. “Especially not in a place of business.”

Connor caught himself before saying ‘fuck off.’ He heard the roll of a chair and looked up just in time to see Nines rolling across the bullpen, stopping at the other side of his desk. Gavin walked up next to him.

“Hey, by the way,” Nines said. “Did you get anything from that android guy?”

“It’s first on their autopsy list today,” Hank said. “They should be done in an hour or so.”

“Waiting is such sweet sorrow,” Nines said.

“You’re not even on this case,” Connor said. “Don’t you have a double homicide to solve?”

“It was pretty cut and clear,” Nines said. “Besides, I’m super invested in this case. I was on it for like, eight years.”

“It’s only been two months,” Connor reminded him.

“Same thing.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a series of dark tones playing from Nines’ desk. Gavin walked over and carried Nines’ phone over to him.

“The mistress of Satan is calling,” he said, handing Nines the phone.

Nines and Connor shared a look and said, “Mom,” at the same time.

It rang a few more times in Nines’ hand.

“Well?” Connor said. “Answer it.”

“I can’t.” He held the phone out to Connor. “You do it.”

“It’s not me she’s calling!”

The phone went dead. 

“Well that’s just great,” Nines said, shoving the phone in his pockets. “Now she’s going to come over.”

Before Connor could respond, his phone buzzed against his desk. The name Amanda flashed on the screen.

“You should answer that,” Nines said, leaning back in his chair a bit. 

“You should,” Connor said, picking the phone up. “She called you first.”

“Ay, but she’s calling you now.”

Connor rolled his eyes at his brother and answered the phone. 

“Hello, Mother...No...yes he’s fine...he’s right here...okay let me put you on speaker.”

Connor set the phone down.

“Richard? Honey? Are you there?” Amanda asked, her voice filling the small space between the twins.

“Yeah, Ma, I’m here.”

“You didn’t answer your phone,” she said. “I was so worried.”

“I’m fine mom. It’s uh, my phone is actually broken. So uh, yeah can’t call me on that anymore.”

Connor glared at him and Nines just shrugged.

“Honey, you can’t go around life without a phone. I can have Zlaty buy you a new one.”

“I have a job mom, I can buy my own phone.”

Connor interjected before Amanda could respond. “Why are you calling, mom?”

“I just wanted to check in on my boys.”

“You never want to check in on us,” Connor said.

Amanda laughed a high pitch giggle. “Well, it’s been so long since we talked.”

“Well, we’re talking now.” Connor bit his lip, resisting the urge to just slam his hand into the phone, smashing it to bits.

“And we’ll be talking more. I’m coming over.”

Nines stumbled forward, his chair rolling away a bit. “You really don’t need to do that Mom. We’re fine.”

“I’m already halfway there, honey,” Amanda said. “Please make sure the apartment is cleaned up. And properly. Last time I found takeout boxes hidden everywhere.”

Connor glanced up at Nines. Through gritted teeth, he said, “Guess we’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Love you both!” 

The phone went dead and Connor glared at Nines. 

“Guess we should fix that door then huh?”


	11. The problem with Mothers

Connor picked up the last beer bottle from the fridge and stuck it in the cooler he would hide in his closet. He did a last sweep of the kitchen to make sure it looked like they were eating reasonably healthy. It didn’t leave a lot of food left, but he could tell her it was grocery shopping day.

“Did you hide your cigarettes?” Connor asked, walking with the cooler into the living room, doing the last check in there.

Nines was struggling to pull a nail from one of the broken door hinges. “Con, you know I quit.” Connor set the cooler down and gave his brother a look of disbelief. Nines caught the gland out of the side of his eye and sighed. “They’re in my coat pocket.”

Connor dug through the closet, pulling the pack out and tossing it in the cooler with their other bad habits. He had originally built the floor safe in his closet for his gun and badge, but it worked well for this too.

“How’s the door coming along?” he asked, returning to the living room.

Nines was trying to screw a new hinge on but had stripped the nail. “Not well.”

Connor opened his mouth to offer some suggestions, but he was cut off by the sound of heels clicking down the hallway.

“Shit,” Nines said. He closed the half-hinged door, it latching, but hanging slightly to the right. It would have to do. He stumbled away from the door, sitting down on the couch. 

Three loud raps knocked against the busted door. Nines shrugged at Connor and said, “you’re closest.”

Connor rolled his eyes and his brother and opened the door. Amanda stood there, dressed in a large and quite fluffy white coat.

“Connor, darling,” she said, her words slightly slurred. She opened her arms and stepped inside, wrapping them around Connor’s shoulders. Connor shut the door behind her and stood rigid as she hugged him. “What? No hug for your mother?”

He sighed and hugged her back loosely, grinding his teeth all the while.

Nines stood up and Amanda moved away from Connor. 

“Hey, Ma,” Nines said, arms primed and ready for a hug. 

Amanda stepped up to him, but instead of hugging him she grabbed his shirt, pulling it down and smoothing out the wrinkles. She gave him a tight smile and turned around. “It’s so good to see my boys again.”

“Only been, what?” Connor said. “Two years?”

Amanda frowned at him, her eyes growing wide. “Now, darling, you know how busy I get.” 

“Yeah, being the jobless wife of some rich diplomat must be very exhausting.”

Amanda’s face turned sour. “I did not come here to be insulted, young man.”

“Uh, why did you come here, Ma?” Nines asked.

“What? A mother can’t come to visit her children after the untimely passing of their father?”

“A mother could,” Connor said. “If she had been here five months ago.”

Amanda gave him her sour look again before shrugging off her coat and handing it to Nines. Nines dutifully took it to the closet, hanging it up for her. 

“Well,” Amanda said, sitting down. “I heard that you got promoted.”

“Heard right,” Connor said, choosing to remain standing.

“That’s exciting news.”

Connor shrugged.

Nines watched them stare each other down in the silence. Eventually, it became too much for him. “Got new android partners, too,” he said.

“Really?” Amanda said, leaning forward a bit. Connor squinted at him. “How fascinating. You know, Zlavy works with androids too.”

“Yeah, mom, we know,” Connor said. “Only mention it every chance you get.”

“He’s very talented like that.” She settled back down into the couch, smiling to herself.

There was another uncomfortable silence thankfully broken by Connor’s ringtone. He looked at it and sighed, his muscles relaxing. “Autopsy’s in on that android,” he told Nines. “I gotta go.”

“So soon?” Amanda asked.

“It’s an important case, mom,” he said. “Sorry.”

“Surely you need me too, right?” Nines asked, raising his eyebrows at him.

Connor grabbed his coat and gave Nines a smug look. “You’re not on the case anymore, remember?”

“You little-”

“Bye!” Connor slipped out of the apartment, leaving Nines and Amanda alone.

Amanda looked around at the apartment, noticing the emptiness of it. “Your walls are quite bare,” she said.

“Yeah, well, we like the space,” Nines said.

“You really ought to get more decorations,” Amanda said. “They make a home so much more cozy.”

“We don’t need new decorations, Mom. We’re fine.” Amanda just stared at him, her face expectant. He sighed. “There’s a home store a few blocks away.”

“Excellent.” Amanda clapped a bit and stood up. “I’ll go get a cab.” She took her coat back from Nines and gave him a look over. “Wear your good coat, honey. Oh and uh, do something about that, won’t you?” She drew a circle around her eye and left the apartment.

Nines grumbled to himself, grabbing his coat and a pair of sunglasses. On his way to the street, he imagined all the different ways one could kill a brother and get away with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like me and my writing and want to meet other dbh fanfic writers/are a writer yourself,  
> Come and join the Yellow LED discord server  
> https://discord.gg/S465VZn  
> I give regular updates on my stories and also poll for ideas on what to write so idk it's fun


	12. Shopping and Scramblers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I'm not gonna lie. Part of the wait was I really had no idea where this was going. BUt I've figured it out so I can try to promise shorter wait periods

Nines leaned his head against the wall and groaned. Amanda stood next to him, holding two small painting in her hands, looking at them with pursed lips. Nines let out a small groan.

“Stand up straight,” Amanda said, not glancing in his direction. “You’ll ruin your posture.”

Nines obeyed, pushing himself away from the wall and rubbing a hand down his face.

Amanda hummed and looked through the paintings already in their shopping cart. She held up the two pieces to Nines and asked, “What do you think, dear?”

Nines gave them a tired glance. “I don’t know.”

“You have to have some opinion.”

“I don’t care, ma.”

Amanda huffed and stuffed one of the paintings in the basket, putting the other back on the shelf. “It’s not my apartment, you know,” she said, pushing the cart down the aisle. “You could show a little interest.”

“I told you we don’t need any decorations.” Nines slumped and followed her.

“You can’t live without a little flair,” Amanda said. She picked up a mirror designed to look like a sun. “It’s far too depressing.”

“That explains Connor then,” Nines mumbled.

“What was that?” Amanda asked, spinning around.

“Oh, nothing,” Nines said, standing up straight again. “Just talking to myself.”

Amanda tsk’d at him and placed the mirror in the basket.

Nines’ phone rang and he sighed in relief. 

“Please save me,” Nines whispered, answering it.

“It can’t possibly be that bad,” Connor replied.

Nines glanced around to make sure Amanda wasn’t paying him any attention. “We are out shopping,” he said. “For decorations.”

“Why?”

“She thinks our apartment is too bare and depressing.”

“Did you tell her it isn’t.”

Nines stood up. “Ya know what? Funnily enough, I didn’t think to say that.”

“Don’t be a smart-ass.”

Amanda turned to him. “Is that Connor on the phone.”

“Don’t you do it,” Connor hissed over the line.

“Uhh, no?” Nines said. “It’s, uhm, just some guy.”

“Just some guy?” Amanda asked, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.

“Who I am going to hang up on now,” Nines said.

“Call me back when you’re free,” Connor said. “I’ve got news.”

Nines hung up and gave Amanda a tense smile. “You were saying something about our apartment being depressing?”

-

“It’s fascinating,” Hank said. He was leaning over the forensics table, examining the small device under a microscope. 

“It’s something,” Connor agreed, hanging up his phone. “Nines’ll catch up later.”

“He’s not on the case, detective,” Hank murmured. “I don’t see why you need to bother him with it.”

“Look, you may be my assigned partner for now, but Nines is the only person I trust around here.”

“Duly noted.” Hank turned the small box over. “The brain that must have been behind this.”

“What are you mumbling about over there?” Connor stalked over to the table, peaking at the box from the side.

“Just talking to myself,” Hank said. “I was saying that it must have taken quite an ingenious mind to create this.”

“It’s a scrambler,” Connor said. He stood back up and shrugged. “They’re not that complex.”

Hank picked the box up and spun it around deliberately in his hand. “This one is.”

The door to the lab opened and Gavin walked in. “What did you find.”

“A scrambler,” Hank said, turning around and holding it out to him. “But more advanced than any we’ve ever seen.”

Gavin took the box from him and hummed while examining it. “So that’s why we couldn’t tell he was an android?”

Hank nodded. “It’s more than that tho. It seems to also act as a tracker, a power generator, and a communications access point.”

“All that in such a small box?” Connor asked.

Hank raised an eyebrow at him. “Still think it’s not impressive?”

Connor crossed his arms and huffed, looking away. “Whatever.” He looked back. “Can you figure out who made it? They might know about our killer. Or be him.”

“We’d have to deconstruct and scan it,” Gavin said. “There’s probably a code somewhere that acts as their signature.”

“Yes,” Hank agreed. “Most geniuses are egotistical that way.”

“Great,” Connor said “You two work on that. I’m gonna go rescue Nines.”

-

Connor stopped in the hallway outside of the apartment. He heard music inside, and the undeniable voice of his mother, ordering Nines to move something to the left. He closed his eyes and sighed, gathering up his energy.

“I’m back,” he announced, stepping through the still slightly broken door.

Nines was standing on the couch, holding an oil painting of a red flower up to the wall. Amanda stood back by the T.V., telling him what to do. She looked over at Connor entered.

“Just in time,” she said. “We’ve almost finished.”

Connor raised an eyebrow and looked around at the walls. Most of the decorations were red and orange colored, mostly paintings and pictures of random objects. It hurt his eyes to look at them all. Especially in the light of the new, bright lamp that had also been purchased for them.

“Sorry to miss all the fun,” Connor said.

Nines secured the last painting and flopped down on the couch. “I hate you,” he mumbled.

“Did you have a good day at work?” Amanda asked. She grabbed a light blue vase from a bag and placed it on the coffee table.

“I’ll say,” Connor said. NInes gave him a questioning look. “It was a scrambler. And apparently a very complex and interesting one.”

“Sounds technical,” Amanda said. 

“Very,” Connor said. “Hank and Gavin are going to scan it to see if they can figure out who made it.”

Amanda clapped her hands together. “You know what I’m going to do?” Nines and Connor stared at her. “I’m going to get us Chinese food.”

“We don’t really eat Chinese food,” Connor said, glaring at her.

“Yeah,” Nines agreed, rolling over on the couch. “We’re more pizza guys.”

“Well you used to like it when you were children,” Amanda said. She was already putting her coat on. “And I can’t understand what could happen to make you change your mind about that.”

“Really?” Connor asked. “You can’t think of a single thing that would have happened to make us hate Chinese food.”

“Oh, honey,” Amanda placed a hand on his arm. “You can’t let the past dictate your future. Eating food doesn’t kill people.”

“Unless they choke on it,” Nines said. “Or like, eat a whole bunch of junk and clog their arteries.”

“You know what I mean, darling.” She patted Connor’s arm. “I’ll get you extra spring rolls.”

She teetered out of the apartment, her heels clicking down the hall.

“Want me to order pizza before she gets back?” Nines asked.

“Otherwise we starve,” Connor said.


	13. Missing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't look at me

Connor had always loved work but he had never really appreciated not having to be at his apartment until his mother was there. Leaving her in the morning to go to work was the most pleasing thing in his life. He sat down at his desk, sighing contently.

“You seem happy,” Hank said.

“For the next eight hours I don’t have to think about or see my mother,” Connor said. “I am the happiest person in the world.”

Hank hummed. Connor’s smile turned to a frown.

“What?” Connor asked.

“We discovered who made the scrambler,” Hank said.

Connor sat up straight. “And?”

“It was made by a Zlatko Andronikov,” Hank said. Connor squinted at him. “If I understand right he is your stepfather?”

“He’s my mother’s husband, yeah,” Connor said. He looked up, watching Gavin and Nines entering the precinct.

“Where the hell did you go off to last night?” Connor asked.

“Mom commandeered my bed,” Nines explained. “You know our couch is really uncomfortable to sleep in?”

“And I suppose Gavin’s bed is that much better?” Hank said, giving the two of them a look.

Connor choked on his own spit. “What?” He asked, coughing and looking up at the two of them.

Nines shrugged. Gavin just stared at him, expressionless.

“What the fuck!” Connor said, his eyes focusing on Nines, searching for an explanation.

“We should resume our attention on this case,” Hank said. “Seeing as how we are at work.”

“Good idea,” Nines said, avoiding Connor’s glare. “What did you find?”

“It’s Zlatko,” Connor mumbled.

“Like, Zlaty Zlatko?”

“The very same.”

“I always knew he was evil,” Nines said. “Now we have proof.”

“I hope you won’t mind, Lieutenant,” Hank said. “But I took it upon myself to have a warrant made out for his arrest. Officers were sent this morning.”

Connor nodded. “Good. When’s he getting here?”

“Whenever he decides to come out of hiding,” Hank said. “He wasn’t home when they arrived and no one has seen him all day.”

“Maybe he’s just out at the store?” Nines suggested.

Hank shook his head. “Several personal items are missing from his house.”

“Fucking great,” Connor said. He fell back into his chair, crossing his arms. “How the fuck did he know we were coming?”

“Someone must have tipped him off,” Gavin said.

“The only ones who knew about it were us,” Connor said. He glared at Hank. “And until now only you knew it was him.”

Hank blinked at him. “I sincerely hope you aren’t insinuating that I contacted Mr. Andronikov.”

“Nobody else knew.”

“Actually,” Nines said, “that’s not entirely true.” The three of them turned to look at him. “There is a boarder at our apartment who knows that one of our cases had something that sounds technical.”

“That bitch!” Connor yelled. This earned him a few glances from the others in the room, but the rage in his eyes soon turned their gazes away. “I knew it! Just dropping in to check on us my ass!”

“Lieutenant, please calm down,” Hank said. 

“Like hell, I will.” Connor stood up, grabbing his coat and stomping towards the door.

“You should follow him,” Nines said.

Hank furrowed his eyebrows at him. “Why me?”

“I don’t think I’d do a very good job at stopping that murder train.”

Hank tilted his head. “You seriously think he’d resort to violence?”

“Ehhh I wouldn’t put it past him.”

Hank shook his head but stood up, following Connor out of the office.

-

“Amanda!” Connor called. He slammed the door open, it falling off its one hinge. He glanced around the living room. It was clean, and the bags from the shopping trip had disappeared. “Amanda!” he shouted again, stomping down the hallway. He checked all the rooms but both woman and bags were gone.

Hank entered the apartment seconds after, staring at the door as he walked in. Connor stormed back into the room. “Goddamnit!” He caught the vision of Hank out of the corner of his eye. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Making sure you don’t murder anyone apparently,” Hank said. He stood to the side, hands behind his back, face blank.

“The only person I’m going to murder around here is you if you don’t leave me alone!”

Hank raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t take kindly to threats, Lieutenant. I would suggest you calm down before further action has to be taken.”

Connor stepped up to him, face inches apart. “Further action?” he asked, his breath hot. “What exactly do you think you’re going to do to me, huh?”

Hank grabbed Connor’s arm, twisting it around, forcing Connor to spin, pinning his hand to his back.

“What the fuck?” Connor yelled out as Hank twisted harder, forcing the man on his toes. “That hurts, you asshole.”

“Good,” Hank said. “Now shut up and listen.” Connor ground his teeth and scowled, but he remained quiet. “If you continue to behave like a child then I will have no choice but to treat you as such. You are an adult, fully capable of controlling your erratic outbursts. You will act as such while we are partnered on this case or I will be forced to report you to Captain Fowler. Understand?”

Through a tight jaw, Connor hissed, “Yes.”

“Good.” Hank released Connor’s arm and the man stepped away, rubbing at his shoulder. “Now, where are the two of them most likely to have gone?”

“I don’t fucking know,” Connor said. Hank gave him a look and he sighed. “He’s Russian, maybe they’re trying to escape back to there?”

“I’ll add them to the airport lists,” Hank said, his LED blinking. “Anyplace else?”

Connor shook his head. “We don’t talk a lot. It’s not like I know where they hang out or anything.”

Hank nodded. Connor sighed and shook his head.

“This is a hell of a mess,” he said. He slumped down onto the couch. 

“I’m sure the door can be fixed,” Hank said. He leaned over, pulling the door up and placing it gently in the frame.

“Not what I meant, but okay.” Connor closed his eyes, leaning his head back. It had to be Zlatko. It had to be his mother. Hasn’t he been through enough the last few months without having his family be involved with a serial killer case?

“We should return to the precinct,” Hank said, standing by the door in his stoic pose. “There is still work we can do while waiting to find him.”

Connor creaked his eyes open at him. He wanted to tell the android to fuck off and let him mope in peace. But his shoulder still hurt from his last outburst.

“Fine,” he said, forcing himself to his feet. “Whatever.”


	14. The Briefing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise many action in the next chapter. Just bear with me

“Look,” Connor said, looking at his brother and the two androids in the briefing room. “We can’t just sit around here and wait for Zlatko to pop up somewhere. We need to take the offensive.”

“How do you propose that, O’ mighty one?” Nines asked. 

Connor gave him a look but moved on. He gestured to the pinboard next to him. A map of Detroit had been printed out, with the locations of every bar indicated with red pins. “Our best bet would be to place undercover cops at each possible location.”

“We don’t have the man force for that,” Hank told him, crossing his arms and sitting back in his seat.

“I”m aware,” Connor said, trying his best not to glare at him. “We can rule out the places he’s already hit.” Connor moved to the board and removed the pins of the previous crimes. “All of these except for Jimmy’s were successful attempts.”

“That’s still too many,” Gavin said.

“I know,” Connor said, practically growled. “I also know that he only attacks bars that were particularly anti-android.” He took away some more pins.

“So why anti-android?” Nines asked. Connor furrowed his eyebrows at him, shaking his head a little. “Well, I mean, why is this guy going after anti-android establishments?”

“That one android recognized him,” Gavin said. “It’s possible that he’s just trying to avoid them.”

“If that’s true,” Hank said, “we could eliminate any bars that have made efforts to include androids more.”

Connor nodded and studied the files on the table next to him, pulling pins as he read.

Nines made a low whistle when Connor was done. “That’s still a lot. Who knew so many people were still so basic.”

“We can’t possibly cover all of those locations,” Hank said. “Not if we still want to solve any other crimes.”

Gavin, who had been busying himself flipping through the case file, looked up at Connor, who looked ready to attack the other android. “They only seem to target smaller locations,” he said. “Ones that are more dive-like. We could eliminate some of the more popular locations.”

Connor rolled his eyes and turned back to the board with a sigh. As he pulled pins down, Nines held his fist out to Gavin, a grin on his face. The android did not oblige and Nines shook his head, glaring at him as he withdrew his hand.

“It’s...doable,” Connor said. He placed his hands on his hips and stared at the board. 

Hank sighed and stood up. “I’ll go talk to Fowler about it.” 

Nines gestured his head to the door and Gavin nodded, getting up and following Hank out.

Connor turned to his pile of papers, organizing them again. Nines meandered up to him.

“So how you doing?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” Connor replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Cause our mother is involved in some kind of weird serial killer plot.”

Connor shrugged. “It’s whatever.”

“Sheesh.” Nines leaned over, looking at Connor’s face as the other man refused to look back. “Just say it already.”

Connor took a controlled sigh, stood up, and looked slowly at Nines. “Say what?”

“Whatever it is you’re thinking about the whole Gavin situation.”

“I’m not thinking anything.” Connor shook his head and looked back down at the table. “If you want to date an android that’s your prerogative.”

“We’re not dating,” Nines told him.

“Right. You’re fucking an android.” Connor shrugged. “Whatever.”

Nines groaned and grabbed Connor’s shoulders, shaking him dramatically. “You are so annoying.”

“What do you want me to say, Nines?” Connor asked, shrugging his brother off. “That it’s really fucking gross? That you being in some weird non-relationship is quite literally worse news than finding out that the mastermind behind our murders is missing? I mean why the fuck would you even think that’s a good idea?”

Nines smirked. “I mean, cause he’s really good in bed?”

“Oh my god.” Connor groaned and turned away, walking towards the board. 

“No seriously,” Nines said. “He’s better than any human I’ve ever been with.”

“I don’t want to hear about that, Jesus.”

“I’m just saying.”

Connor bit the inside of his cheek. “One of those things killed Dad, Nines.”

Nines’ face sobered. “I know. But I also know that that one wasn’t Gavin. And as hard as it may be to believe, it wasn’t Hank either.”

Connor ripped the map down, folding it up. He shook his head slightly. “Yeah. Whatever.”

"You know," Nines said. " You really gotta stop being so racist."

"I'm not racist," Connor said. "It's...speciesist."

"Either way, it's dumb and you need to get over yourself." Nine's left the room, leaving Connor standing over his pile, frowning and trying not to take a new outlook on life.


	15. An unsettling development

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I'm dead set on finishing this. I'm just dying. But even if it takes me 500 years it will get done!

Nines groaned, sipping on a glass of whiskey, squinting at the android that sat across from him. “If we’re going to have to spend the night doing work, they could have at least sent us to a halfway decent bar. This place is the worst.”

Gavin raised an eyebrow at him. “You shouldn’t be drinking on the job, Detective.”

“It loosens me up,” Nines said, stretching his arms. “Gotta be limber for any chase scenes.”

“And were you limber when the murderer attacked Jimmy’s?”

Nines frowned at him. “You know, you could do with a nice stiff drink yourself.”

“I am not capable of consuming human food or drink. An alcoholic beverage would simply sit in my internal storage until I am able to empty it.”

“That’s...kinda gross. But there’s gotta be something that messes you up? Like...uh what about Red Ice? That’ll probably do you up nasty.”

Gavin tilted his head, eyebrow still raised. “Would you want to take a drug that was made out of human blood?”

“Uh...yeah, no. Nevermind.” Nines knocked back the rest of his glass, sighing and slumping back in his seat.

Gavin was constantly glancing around the room, probably searching for any suspicious characters. He tapped his fingers on the table in methodical paces. Nines never was comfortable with silence.

“Would you rather fight one hundred duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?”

Gavin focused his attention on the human, one eyebrow raised. “What?”

“One hundred duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?” Gavin shook his head, face contorting further into confusion. “Just answer the question.

Gavin sighed, his LED blinking a bit as he thought. “I suppose one horse-sized duck.”

“Interesting, interesting.” Nines nodded. “Now you go.”

“How is this conducive to the investigation, Detective?”

Nines shrugged. “It’s not. It’s just fun.”

Gavin gave him a slightly disappointed look but Nines urged him on. “Alright,” he said. “Would you rather get eaten alive by lions or by bears?”

Nines squinted at him. “That, that’s not a good question.”

“Just answer it,” Gavin said, a sly smile on his lips.

“Uh...bears? Cause like, to get mauled by bears you gotta be doing something cool.”

“Unless you simply fell into the exhibit at the zoo.”

“Wow, okay, Mr. underestimating-my-abilities. Would you rather eat a talking dog or murder a baby penguin.”

“Well, considering that I cannot eat, I would probably end up murdering a penguin.”

Nines sat up in his chair, leaning on the table. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, but imagine you could eat, which would you choose?”

Gavin tilted his head. “How would I be murdering the penguin?”

Nines shrugged. “Knifed to death.”

“I’d murder the penguin. Would you rather be trampled to death by a crowd of carnies, or not trampled to death by a crowd of carnies?”

Nines leaned back a bit. “What? Obviously, I would rather not be trampled to death.”

“Interesting, interesting.”

Nines threw his hands out to the side. “What’s interesting about that?” Gavin just smirked at him. “Fine. Would you rather be torn apart by magnets or set on fire?”

“Easy. Set on fire. Would you rather be crushed to death by a rock or have your body squished by a large, condensed ball of gravel?”

“Why do all of mine involve me dying?” Nines asked. “Also that’s literally the same scenario twice!”

Gavin opened his mouth to respond but he was cut off by a scuffle and a scream at the bar. They both turned, standing up. For a brief second they saw a man, in a dark grey hoodie, holding the bar owner by the head, knife already once stuck in his neck.

Nines grabbed his gun and trained it on the murderer. He heard the man shout before dropping the owner, pushing past the screaming crowd to escape out the back door. 

“After him,” Nines said, jumping over the table and racing out the door. 

Gavin hesitated briefly, alerting the other officers to the situation, before following them out the door.

“Hey!” Nines shouted, chasing the murderer down the side alley to the main street. “Stop!” He tried to aim his gun, but he was moving too much, and the guy had joined the pedestrians on the street.

Nines kept an eye on the dark grey hoodie, following it as it weaved and bobbed around the sparse crowd. Gavin caught up to him, passing him even. 

“Yeah!” Nines urged him on. “Go get ‘im.”

They disappeared around a second side aisle. By the time Nines got there, the murderer was at the top of a chain link fence, Gavin half way up and reaching for him. Nines jogged up to them. The murderer managed to shake Gavin off, but he fell to the other side of the fence. 

Gavin and Nines stood on their side, watching as the murder rolled back to his feet, hoodie falling down.

“Holy shit,” Nines said, staring at his own face. But not his face. Someone that looked like his face. Connor’s face.

Gavins’ eyes twitched as he scanned the murderer. Then possibly-Connor smirked at them and ran off, jumping across lanes of highway traffic, disappearing up the hill on the other side.

“Was that…?” Nines asked.

Gavin nodded, slowly. “It was. I scanned him. That was Lieutenant Stern.”

“But that’s impossible,” Nines said, his breathing hard. “He was with me when the attacked Jimmy’s. We fought that guy together.”

Gavin shook his head. “Maybe there are two killers. Or more. All I know is that that man,” he pointed off towards the hill, “was Connor.”

Nines stepped back, shaking his own head. “No. You’re wrong. Your scanning mechanism or whatever must be broken. I know my brother. He may be erratic and drunk but he’s not a murderer.” He blinked. “At least, not a planned murderer. Maybe in a heat of passion but-”

“Detective,” Gavin said. “I understand that this case has been...most unusual. I’m not trying to imply that Lieutenant Stern is a murderer, I’m simply stating that the person I chased down this alley and who fell on the other side of that fence was Lieutenant Stern.”

Nines crossed his arms and huffed. “This is really fucked.”

Gavin looked out towards the hill. “I agree, wholeheartedly.”


	16. I didn't do it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> or did he??

“I’m telling you I didn’t do it,” Connor said, crossing his arms and glaring at Gavin. “If I did, why would I come back here?” He gestured to the alleyway. 

“Throw us off?” Nines suggested. 

Connor huffed at turned his sour look to his brother. 

“And I’m telling you that I saw you hop that fence and run away,” Gavin reminded him, his face expressionless. 

“I couldn’t have done it.” Connor spun around, pointing at Hank who was watching the passing highway traffic with interest. “I was with Hank the whole time.”

“Actually,” Hank said, slowly turning to face him. “You weren’t.”

“What do you mean I wasn’t? We were at that insufferable party bar all night.”

“No. You sent me to the convenience store across the street. I was there for six minutes and 37 seconds.” He looked to Nines and Gavin. “And that was right before we got the message.”

Nines’ face fell. “And you arrived separately.”

“That’s because I got the message in the bar and went the back way because it’s quicker!” Connor watched the three of them watching him. “I didn’t do it.”

“Six minutes would have been more than enough time for you to have traveled here,” Hank mused, considering you were at least jogging.”

“Shit,” Nines said. “Does this mean we have to arrest him?”

“Like hell you are! I am the lead investigator on this case! Why would I be the one doing it?”

Gavin shrugged. “To throw us off I suppose.”

Connor clenched his teeth together., his hand hovering over the hilt of his gun. “If I was, why would I send you two to the place I was going to be!?”

Gavin and Nines exchanged a glance. Gavin shook his head. 

“See? Clearly, it wasn’t me.”

“It really did look like you, though,” Nines said.

“Well then he looked like you too,” Connor said. “And I don’t see you under attack.”

“You aren’t under attack, Lieutenant,” Hank said. “You’re under suspicion.”

“Same fucking difference! I told you I didn’t do it and I didn’t do it!”

Gavin sighed, placing his hands on his hips, looking down. “You are currently our only suspect, no matter the circumstances.”

Connor’s hand jerked back, pulling his gun out of his holster. He trained the barrel on Gavin. “I am not a suspect.”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Nines said. He stepped between the two of them, his hands half raised. “Let’s not escalate the situation any further.”

“Out of the way, Nines,” Connor said. 

“Put the gun down, Lieutenant,” Hank said, slowly advancing towards them.

Connor pivoted, aiming at Hank now. “I told you I didn’t do it.”

“And you’re really helping your case here, bro,” Nines said. Connor glanced at him and he took a step forward. “Threatening to shoot us for accusing you doesn’t exactly scream innocent.”

“I’m not threatening to shoot you,” Connor said. “Just those plastic assholes.”

“Okay, well, still not helpful.” Nines slid up next to his brother, placing his hand on the top of the gun, slowly forcing Connor’s arm down. “It’s probably best if you just, come back to the station and we can...fuck, we can interrogate you or something.”

Connor glanced at the two androids then stared at his brother. He huffed, putting his gun away. “Fine. But I’m not wearing any damn handcuffs. Cause I didn’t do it.”

Nines put a hand on Connor’s shoulder and started walking him back to the main street. “Fair enough.”

*  
“I don’t think you understand the mess we are in, Anderson,” Fowler said, leaning over the table as he stared Connor down. Nines stood in the corner, arms crossed. 

“Oh yes I had no idea,” Connor said, rolling his eyes. He jingled the unnecessary and fought against handcuffs that held him to the table. “These certainly didn’t give it away.”

“We have you on video escaping a crime scene,” Fowler said, face darkening. He pushed away from the table, throwing his hands up in frustration. “Our own Lieutenant, a goddamn murderer.”

“I told you it wasn’t me,” Connor shouted. “You can’t just believe in what some fucking android sees.”

“Richard saw him,” Fowler said, looking over at Nines. Nines looked up, his face contorted in conflict, looking almost like a child caught between two arguing parents. It was a face Connor knew all too well.

“He also saw me with him like, eighty percent of the other times it happened! He saw me fight this asshole at Jimmy’s!”

The two looked at Nines, waiting for him to speak. Nines opened his mouth slightly, but said nothing, closing his teeth together and looking down at the ground.

“You’re staying here until we figure this out,” Fowler said. He shook his head. “The press is going to have a fucking field day with this.”

“Fuck the press!” Connor stood up, the chains forcing him to bend over a bit. “I need to be out there I have to catch this asshole.”

“You are that asshole!” Fowler roared. 

“You know I didn’t do it,” Connor said. “Why are you doing this to me, Jeffery! You know we’ve almost solved this and I can’t do it locked up in some cell!”

Fowler thrust a finger at him. “You’re off the case, Anderson! And you’re not leaving this goddamn station until we know for damn sure what’s going on here!”

Fowler turned and left, Connor throwing a string of curses after him. Finally, Connor settled down in his seat, biting his lip in frustration, face red.

“Lot of fucking help you were,” Connor spat at Nines, looking dead ahead at the mirror. His brother didn’t respond. Connor glanced over at him. “What? Cat ripped your fucking tongue out?”

Nines folded his hands together, popping his knuckles a bit. “I’m trying to think.”

Connor scoffed. “Don’t stress yourself too much. You might explode.”

Nines looked up, his face no longer small and scared, his eyes a hard stare on Connor. “I’m trying to help you, asshole. Don’t make me start thinking you did do it.”

Connor went to respond but he stopped when Nines pushed away from the wall, walking slowly but purposefully out of the room. 

Connor sat back, leaning low in his chair, staring at the mirror, picturing the two android faces behind it. Everything had been fine until they showed up. No one was challenging his behavior, no one was corrupting his brother, no one was accusing him of murder. 

Connor bit his lip again, squinting into the next room. He didn’t kill that man, but if something didn’t change soon, and android or two might just go missing.


	17. Level 7 friends with benefits

Gavin knocked on the door, noticing how it still tilted to the side a bit. If he wanted to, he could press his face up against the door frame and see inside the apartment. But he didn't. He waited by the door, hands folded behind his back. There was light spilling through the door but no response. He knocked again.

Voice muffled, Nines called out, “We don’t want any.”

“That’s interesting,” Gavin said. “I was under the impression I was quite desirable.”

There was a scuffle and the door creaked open. Nines stood before him, wearing sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt. Gavin’s eyes would have traced the way the collar fell off his shoulder a bit if they weren’t distracted by the cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth. Gavin raised an eyebrow at him.

“Don’t think so highly of yourself,” Nines murmured over the cigarette. He left the door open, walking back into the apartment. 

Gavin followed, wondering silently how he had never noticed this particular habit of Nines’. The odorless cigarette invented a few years ago probably helped.

Nines flopped down on the couch. HIs eyes were red and he stared at the television, some cooking competition show on low volume playing. Gavin took a look around the room. It was in a state of distress. Various pictures and decorations were strewn about, most of them broken. 

“Were you robbed?” Gavin asked.

Nines scoffed. “Yep.”

Gavin turned a worried look to him, but figured based on the tone and his posture, Nines was talking about something else. So he sat down gingerly on the couch next to the detective, eyes still taking in all of the new information about his partner he was learning.

Nines leaned back, taking a long draw from his cigarette, letting the clear smoke escape his mouth in a translucent cloud.

“You shouldn’t smoke,” Gavin said, finally resting his gaze on Nines. “It’s bad for your health.”

“Yeah? Tell me something I don’t know.” Nines flicked the cigarette against the clay pot sitting next to him. 

Gavin was at a lost. Usually, he knew how to deal with Nines. The man would make jokes, flirt, laugh his way through trauma, and Gavin usually went along with it. But now Nines was acting different, so sullen and depressed. He was almost acting like Connor.

And Gavin didn’t know shit about dealing with Connor.

“So,” he said, finding the hushed voices of the television annoying. “How do you get Nines from Richard?”

Nines scoffed. “You ask him nicely….wait. Shit, it doesn’t work with that.”

Gavin twitched a smile. That was a move in the right direction. “You said you’d tell me someday.”

“If I remember correctly,” Nines said, drawing their memories back to the first day at work when they were talking at their desks, “I said you must be a level nine friend to unlock this backstory.”

Gavin’s smile increased. “And what level are we at?”

Nines looked over, eyes glazing over the android. “I’d say a solid three.”

“That’s quite the shame,” Gavin said, looking down and forcing himself to frown. “See, last I checked, you had to be level eleven friends to have sex.” He sighed, shrugging. “Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.”

Nines squinted at him. “You would, wouldn’t you?”

Gavin just smirked back.

Nines groaned, leaning his head back against the couch. His cigarette was almost out so he dropped it in the pot, pulling another one out of a crushed box. “Well.” He lit the cigarette taking a deep breath of its toxins. “My brother and I played basketball in high school. It was our dad’s thing, really. Connor was way more into it than I was but I liked hanging out with them so I went along.”

Nines tapped the cigarette against the pot’s lip, a few ashes falling to the couch. “It was a little weird to have to Sterns on the team you know? So everyone was out looking for a nickname for one of us, cause apparently just using first names is against the law or something.”

Nines was quiet for a minute, laying back with his eyes closed. Gavin was afraid he fell asleep. Just as he went to nudge him, however, Nines popped his head back up. 

“Anyway. It was coming time to get jersey’s and what not, and I really liked the number nine, you know? Lucky number and all that. But it was retired. And it’s fucking stupid, if you ask me, to retire numbers in a fucking high school team but what the fuck ever.”

He blinked a bit, squinting at the air before him. “I basically said as much to the coach in front of everyone and the next day, boom. I was Nines.” He laid his head back, lazily smoking.

“High school was quite a few years away,” Gavin said. “Surely there was time to rebrand yourself if you dislike it that much.”

Nines shrugged. “Guess I got used to it.”

Gavin knew there was more to the story. Probably something to do with his father. But maybe they were more like level seven friends with benefits, so he said nothing more about it.

“It’s really fucked, you know. This whole deal with Connor.” Nines took one long draw, the line on the cigarette racing back. He coughed it back out, dropping the stick in the pot and reaching for another.

Gavin reached forward, snagging the box from him before he could get one out.

“Hey!”

“You’ve had enough,” Gavin stated simply, crushing the box further, feeling the cigarettes snap beneath his fingers.

“Oh, fuck you!” Nines said, shoving him a bit. “Get the fuck out of my apartment.”

Gavin told himself he didn’t want to leave Nines alone, but the truth was he didn’t want to be alone. So he did the one thing he knew would ease his anger.

Gavin readjusted himself, swinging one leg over Nines, straddling him, pushing him back against the couch. “What if I gave you something else to stick in your mouth?”

Nines raised his eyebrows at him, and Gavin pulled him into a kiss before he could argue.


	18. All you need is Proof (dadadadada)

Nines sat down at the conference table, saying, “you look like you slept well,” to the red-eyed Connor who sat on the other side.

Connor looked up at him, face stern and giving off a having-none-of-this vibe. Nines coughed and pulled over the files on the table. Connor turned his attention back to the laptop. He pressed a button and Nines heard his voice filling the room, telling Gavin to ‘go get ‘im.’

“Have you been watching that all night?” Nines asked. “That’s not very good for your eyes.”

“I’m not allowed to leave until I prove it wasn’t me,” Connor said. “So I’m going to prove it.”

Nines leaned forward, shifting closer to his brother, dropping his voice to a whisper. “Just between you and me,” he said, “no judgment and what not. You didn’t do it, did you?”

“Of course I didn’t!” Connor snapped, sending Nines back to his side of the table. “Idiot.”

“I was just checking,” Nines said. “It looked a hell of a lot like you.”

“Anyone can look like me with enough work,” Connor said. “The real brain scratcher is why did they scan as me when Gavin looked at them?”

Nines shrugged, shaking his head. “Not a clue. Maybe some kind of...I dunno, advanced facial reconstruction tech? Who hates you enough to become you just to mess you up?”

“I suppose Hank isn’t a valid option,” Connor mumbled.

“Nonono. I said who hates you. Not who do you hate.”

Connor shook his head. “No one would make my life that miserable if they didn’t hate me. I mean, fucking, last night? Do you know why he was in that fucking convenience store in the last place?” Nines shook his head. “Cause he wouldn’t stop making fucking comments about what I was eating. So I told him that if he wanted me to eat better or whatever shit he can walk over there and get me something else to eat.”

“Wow,” Nines said. “I hate it when people care about my well being. It’s a damn shame. He ought to be burned for his insolence.”

“Yeah, you just remember that attitude next time Dad catches you smoking again.”

There was a small awkward silence as they both realized that scenario would never again exist.   
Connor cleared his throat, blinking and turning his attention back to the video. Nines nodded gently, fingers absentmindedly flipping through the files, not really paying attention to it.

The door opened and both brothers turned to glare at who dared to interrupt them as they were brooding. Not good for his reputation, it was Hank.

“Good morning,” he said, moving to sit next to Connor. Connor scooted his chair away. “Any progress?”

“No,” Connor said, his voice curt.

Hank frowned, clearly tired of trying.

Nines cleared his throat. “Dr. Stern has arrived, have no fear.”

Hank furrowed his eyebrows at him. Connor just glared.

“So, Connor,” Nines said, folding his hands in front of his face. “Tell me how your hatred of androids affects your professional relationship with Mr. Hank here.”

“Knock it off, Nines,” Connor said, trying to avoid him by forcing his eyes to stare at the computer screen. 

Nines shifted his body, looking now at Hank. “Mr. Hank. Have you been made privy to the information regarding the formation of Connor’s said technological aversion?”

Hank just stared at him. Connor, however, glared up, a low growl in his throat. “I’m serious, Nines. Quit it.”

“I’m just saying,” Nines said, shrugging. “It might help.”

“Shut it.”

Nines was quiet for a second. Then he shrugged, looked at Hank, opened his mouth to speak, then was knocked to the side, Connor having lunged over the table at him. They fell to the floor, rolling around for dominance.

Hank was quick to his feet, rushing around the table to grab Connor. He gripped the man’s shoulders pulling him off Nines and dragging him away.

“Let me go,” Connor said, a phrase that Hank was becoming annoyed by. If he had it his way, Connor would stay locked up in a cell until he cooled off.

Nines got to his feet, brushing himself off as Connor struggled in Hank’s grip. “Yeah,” he said. “I probably deserved that.”

“Damn right you did,” Connor said. He kicked against the android. “Now call off your goon.”

“Sorry, Hank,” Nines said. “Thanks for the help though.”

Hank didn’t let go of Connor immediately, instead studying his neck. “Lieutenant,” he said, his voice slow, thoughtful. “Have you always had that scar on your neck?”

“What?” Connor asked. Hank released him and Connor felt around the skin Hank was looking at. “Oh that. What was it?” he asked Nines. “Last year?”

Nines nodded. “Yeah, that firework.” He chuckled. “Halloween, man. Wild.”

“What’s it to you, anyway?” Connor asked, stepping away from the android and straightening his jacket. 

Hank hummed, then walked back to the laptop, leaning over the table as he fiddled with the video.

“Don’t ignore me,” Connor said. “What the fuck does my scar have to do with anything?”

Hank said nothing, turning a zoomed in still frame of the video to them. Connor shook his head, shrugging. Hank sighed. “Notice what isn’t there?”

Connor and Nines leaned over the table together, studying the screen. 

“No scar,” Nines mused.

“And I don’t suppose you were using makeup to cover it,” Hank said.

“Obviously,” Connor said.

“Okay so...so that proves it?” Nines said. He looked at Hank. “Does that prove it.”

“It fucking better,” Connor grumbled. 

“It...says something,” Hank said.

Connor sighed. “Fowler won’t accept it.”

“Are you sure? I think he’ll be all over a chance to prove your innocence. You know, for the press,” Nines said.

Connor shook his head. “He doesn’t want me on the field.”

“Hard to blame,” Hank said. 

Connor squinted at him but decided against it. “We need more evidence to get him on board.”

“Well we know for a fact now it’s not you,” Nines said. “So that’s a good place to start. Now we gotta figure out who would try to pretend to be you.”

“And didn’t know about the scare,” Hank said.

“Or was dumb enough to leave it out,” Connor agreed.

“I have a theory on that,” a voice said from the door. 

The three startled and looked over, seeing Gavin standing there, stiff as he observed their conversation.

“Shit,” Nines said. “How long have you been standing there.”

“Since Connor attacked you.”

“Awww. You came to save me. How nice.”

“Hardly,” Gavin said, raising an eyebrow. “I’d just prefer not to have to get another new partner.”

“You big softie.”

“Can we take a break from the grossmobile and get back to my case please?” Connor said, hands on his hips, shaking his head at them.

“Right,” Gavin said. He reached into his pocket, pulling out the device they found from before. He set it down on the table, gesturing to it.

Nines looked around at everyone’s confused faces. “I think we’re going to need a little bit more of an explanation.”

“I was investigating this,” Gavin said. “I wanted to know how it could stop me from recognizing the man as an android.”

Everyone stared at him, waiting for him to continue. “And did you?” Nines finally asked.

“In a way,” Gavin said. “I’m still not entirely sure how, but the device is capable of copying and recreating the bio scans of humans.”

“So...Fake Connor’s an android?” Nines asked.

Gavin nodded once. “It’s certainly a possibility.”

“That would...explain a lot actually,” Nines said.

“Now all we need is proof.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really thought about dragging out the suspicion for a while, but the story needs to move along so here we are-me sneaking -60 into a fic 😉


	19. Vice

“We need a plan,” Nines said, pacing up and down the length of the room. “We gotta catch this guy.”

“Too bad we’ve spent all this time not trying to catch him,” Connor said.

Nines turned to him slightly, holding a finger up. “Shush.”

“We need to figure out the motive,” Gavin said. He looked at Connor. “Is there any reason your step-father would use your likeness to create a murderous android?”

“I can think of several,” Connor said. He sighed slightly, shaking his head. “But none of them really make sense.”

“We can’t be sure it was Mr. Andronikov,” Hank said. “We know it was similar tech, but perhaps more than one person knows about it.”

“No, it was him alright,” Connor said. He ground his teeth together. “The whole thing reeks of him.”

“So,” Nines said, drawing their attention back to him. He stood before them, hands primed behind his back. “What’s the plan?”

Connor shrugged, his shoulders lose. “Is death a viable option?”

Nines pointed at him. “Absolutely not.”

Gavin tilted his head to the side. “Perhaps we could try and find his base of operation? See if there’s a central point based on all his targets?”

“We already tried that,” Connor told him. “Everything was erratic and random.”

“That was when you thought the culprit was human,” Hank said. “Maybe to an android it would have a pattern.”

“By all means,” Connor said, forcefully sliding the files across the table to him, “take a look at it with your super fancy android brain and tell me I’m wrong.”

Hank, seemingly unfazed by that, flipped the files open, humming to himself as he studied them. 

“Richard!” Fowler said, the door to the room flying open. Hank covered the files with his arms, leaning over the table. Fowler looked around at the group, squinting a bit. “What’s going on in here?”

“Uh,” Nines looked at the scene. “Team building?”

“It better be.” He pointed at Connor. “Because you’re off this case.”

Connor nodded, pursing his lips a bit. “Wouldn’t even dream of working it, Sir.”

Fowler sighed and turned his point to Nines. “In my office.”

Nines put a hand on his chest, mouth open a bit, but Fowler walked out before he could deliver his witty comeback. Nines sighed. “You guys figure something out while I’m gone.”

-

Nines sat down across the desk from Fowler. “Look, I’m sure whatever I did totally warrants some kind of punishment but with Connor out of commission I really think I need to be here to-”

“You’re not in trouble,” Fowler said, holding a hand up to still his talking.

“I-I’m not?” Nines asked. Fowler shook his head and Nines shifted in his seat, looking around the room with uncertain eyes. “So, uh, what’s up?”

Fowler opened the thick file in front of him, flipping through the disciplinary sheets to get to the info in the back. “When you applied to be a detective you mentioned an interest working in vice,” he said. 

“Yeah,” Nines said. “But there weren’t any openings so I joined Pops in homicide.”

“Are you still interested in it?” Fowler asked.

“What? For real? There’s an opening?” He chuckled a bit. “Did Fonzio finally retire?”

“Not here.” Fowler handed a packet of paper over to him. “Chicago’s hiring. Been sending out applications to nearby states. I think you should apply.”

Nines looked from the packet to Fowler and back again. Then he squinted at the man. “You just want to get rid of me, don’t you?”

“On the contrary,” Fowler said. “You’re one of my top detectives and losing you would leave a hole in this office that no one could fill. But I know you’ll do great things in vice. And you should seriously consider it.”

“Uh.” Nines licked his lips, his mouth and throat going dry. “Thank you.”

“Now get out and go do your job,” Fowler said, closing his file and dropping it in a drawer in his desk.

Nines continued to stare at the papers as he walked back to the conference room. 

“What did he want?” Connor asked.

“What?” Nines looked up, startled out of his thoughts. “Oh, uh, nothing.”

“What’s the paper for?” Gavin asked.

“What paper?” Nines asked.

Gavin nodded down at his hands. “The papers in your hands.”

Nines shooks his head. “There are no papers in my hands.”

“Detective, I can see-”

“Don’t bother,” Connor interrupted. “You can’t win against stupid.”

“So I’m beginning to understand.”


	20. Joykill

There was usually about a ten-minute lull in the office between when Nines and the rest of the day shift went home and the night shift showed up. Generally, there were one or two late or early people hanging around, but on that night, Connor found himself alone, and digging through the break room cupboards.

“Ha,” he said, pulling out a bottle of tequila left over from the office Christmas party. 

“You know,” a familiar voice said behind him, “drinking is quite bad for your health.”

“Go home, Nines,” Connor said, turning around, taking a swig from the bottle. 

He stopped, body tense, as he stared at the figure in the room. It certainly looked like Nines, at least, in the face. But they were wearing different clothes. And there was something about the sparkle in their eyes that told Connor this wasn’t his brother.

“Guess again,” the look-alike said. He flicked his wrist, a knife appearing in his hand, slipping out of his sleeve.

Connor glanced around the room, looking for a weapon. He saw the bagel knife sitting in the sink and dashed for it. The android beat him there, moving with a speed Connor couldn’t match.

“Ah, ah, ah,” they said, holding the knife away from him. “They said you would be sneaky,” his face contorted into a frown. “I was hoping for a bit more of a challenge. How disappointing.”

“How’s this for a challenge?” Connor kicked his foot out, striking against the android’s groin.

Smirking, the android simply reached down, grabbing Connor’s leg. “Honestly, Lieutenant. How could you possibly think that would work?”

Connor grumbled and tried to pull his leg back, but the android held fast. They stepped forward, forcing Connor to hop back until his back was against the counter.

With his other hand, the android pressed the tip of his knife against Connor’s knee, the blade breaking through the fabric of his jeans. “To think. I thought I was up against some mastermind this whole time. Turns out, I needn’t be so careful.”

“Think again, asshole,” Connor said. He grabbed the coffee bag behind him, tossing it at the android, crush coffee filling the air. 

The android stepped back, releasing Connor and wiping at his eyes. Connor took the moment to lunge at him, wrapping arms around waist, forcing them both to the ground. They were in a place full of weapons, Connor just had to get to one. He wrestled the knife out of the androids’ grip and scrambled up, spotting a gun on a desk to his right. 

“Not so fast,” the android said, grabbing Connor’s leg, twisting him back to the ground.

Connor fell hard, stunned a bit as his head hit the ground. The android climbed on top of him, pinning him down with his legs. He flicked his wrist again, another knife appearing.

“How many of those do you have up there?” Connor asked, arms pushing against the other body to no avail.

“As many as I need,” the android said. “In this case, two.” He smirked and raised the knife, the metal glistening against the soft lighting.

The weight of the android fell away from Connor’s body as it was lifted into the air. Hank stood above Connor, face a scowl as he held the android by their arms. He growled a bit, tossing the android to the side, the body falling limp as it knocked against the wall.

Hank offered Connor a hand, pulling him up to his feet.

“Thanks,” Connor said, dusting himself off. He looked sideways at Hank, not sure what else to say. He figured it would probably be rude to question why Hank was here when he had just saved him, so he walked over to the android, watching it twitch a bit.

Connor ignored the dent in the wall the toss had created. He knelt down, holding the android by the collar. “Alright, talk.”

“Woof, woof,” The android said, one eye blinking rapidly as it looked at him.

Connor shook him a little bit. “Tell me why Zlatko made you? Why like me?”

“Aww,” the android said, his voice whirling as he spoke. “Did precious baby not get enough love from his mommy?”

“What?”

“You know, she always liked you best,” the android hitched a laugh. “Hard to see why.”

“Shut up,” Connor said. “What were you doing at those bars? Why kill them?”

The android just tilted his head, eyes staring silently at him. Connor groaned and released him, standing up.

“Lieutenant,” Hank said, panic is his voice.

Connor heard a bang and turned back around. The android was smacking his head against the wall, increasing the dent, blue blood pouring from the back of his head.

“Oh no you don’t,” Connor said. He tackled the android, holding his head in his hands. The android stared at him with blank eyes as it tried to jerk away. “Help me!”

Hank knelt down. He placed two fingers against the android’s temple. The skin on his fingers and a small circle of skin on the android disappeared. The android bucked under Connor’s hold, but a few seconds of connectivity later, and he was still, eyes finally shut.

“Jesus,” Connor said, standing back up. “What did you do to him?”

“I forced him to go into stasis mode.”

“You can do that.”

“I don’t enjoy it, but if necessary, yes.”

“Huh,” Connor said. He rubbed the back of his head. “Uhm...thanks for saving me, I guess.”

Hank tilted his head, eyes studying him. “You’re quite welcome.”

“Right, well, we should deal with this.” He gestured down at the android. “You know...we could play a really fun trick on Nines.”

Hank picked the body up. “I don’t think so.”

Connor sighed. “Joykill.”


	21. A long night (that lasted 20 minutes)

It was too difficult to get an interrogation room safe enough for the destructive android. So they chained him up in a cell, strapping his head to the wall so he couldn’t damage it further. Connor knelt before him, watching the twitching eye, safe from the kick of the jittery legs. 

“What’s your name?” Connor asked.

The android’s lips twitched into a smile. “Connor.” It laughed, it’s voice more mechanical than human.

Connor scowled at him. “What are you doing here? Why try to kill me?”

The android tried to turn its head, stopped by the straps. The functioning eye slid to look at Connor. “There can only be one.”

“Just tell me why!” Connor shouted, grabbing a fist full of the android’s shirt. He pulled the body out a bit, neck stretching as the head stayed attached to the wall. 

The android laughed a bit, sometimes the sound clicking into the proper setting. “You really are quite dense aren’t you? What Amanda ever saw in you, I’ll never know.”

Connor growled, releasing the android and getting back up. He walked over to Hank, arms crossed. “Can’t you like, do that connection thing and figure out what happened?”

“Only if it’s necessary,” Hank said, standing up straight, attention attached to the android chained to the wall. “It’s not...pleasurable.”

“Well I’m saying it’s necessary,” Connor said. “We aren’t going to get anything out of him with normal methods.”

“It’s not yet that dire,” Hank told him.

Connor huffed and the cell door opened, Nines walking in with Gavin in tow.

“Holy shit,” Nines said. “This is weird.”

The android turned it’s blinking to him, smile seeming to be stuck on his face. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t big brother Rich, right on time.”

“Yikes,” Nines said. He stepped closer, studying the android. “When was the last time anyone called me that?”

“My information may be out of date,” the android said. “Not like she ever really cared about you anyway.” He chuckled, more like a grumble. “What are they calling you these days?”

Nines pursed his lips. “King Omar the Fabulous.”

The android laughed again. “Always the funny man. Tell me, does it keep you up at night knowing you could have done more for them? I always wondered, would one more joke have kept them together.”

Nines turned to Connor. “What is this guy’s problem?”

Connor shrugged. “I think annoyance is part of his programming.”

“Well he certainly seems good at his job,” Nines said, stepping away from him and joining Connor next to Hank. 

Gavin, meanwhile, went to kneel next to the android. The two locked eyes, the chained up one’s smile faltering a bit. Gavin reached out, hand gripping tight to struggling arm. His skin dissolved, and the others watched with anticipation as he closed his eyes, holding to the struggling android.

He released, standing up and backing away a few paces.

“See,” Connor said to Hank, “wasn’t that hard.”

“So?” Nines asked. “What did you see?”

Gavin shook his head, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “I don’t…” he turned to look at them. “I saw the two of you as children.”

“Oh god,” Connor said. “This asshole has my memories, too?”

“Not exactly.” Gavin grabbed his chin in one hand, hand tilted. “The best guess I can make is they took your mother’s memories and tried to...make them seem like yours? If that makes sense.”

“Ding ding ding,” the android Connor said. He tried to mimic the actual sound, only the last beat registering it. “Ladies and gentlemen we have a winner.”

“What about the more recent memories?” Connor asked.

Gavin shook his head again. “I couldn’t seem to find them.”

“My head may be damaged,” the android said. He started laughing. “But I’m still smarter than you.”

“That’s it,” Connor said. “I need a fucking drink.”

“Oh, yes,” the android said as they all started to file out of the room. “Run away. You’ll never be able to best me.”

They made their way back to the conference room, Connor stopping by the break room, getting progressively more upset when he saw the smashed tequila bottle on the floor. They sat around the table, all silent for a moment.

“So,” Nines said, always the first to break the silence. “That guy’s completely off his rocker.”

“He has had some head trauma,” Hank said.

“Yeah, from when you threw him into a wall,” Nines said. “Which, by the way, awesome!” He held his hand out for a high-five, and when Hank didn’t return the gesture, he clapped his hands together and frowned.

“We need to find Amanda and Zlatko,” Connor said. “Have there been any hits for them?”

Hank shook his head. “No. They’re very good at hiding.”

Connor’s phone starting to ring and he pulled it out, frowning at it. “Not that good apparently.”

“Keep her on as long as you can,” Hank said, his LED blinking. “I can try and locate them.”

“You can do that?” Connor asked. Hank nodded so he answered his phone. “Hello, mother.”

“Connor, honey,” Amanda said. “Are you okay?”

Connor shook his head, staring at Nines who stared at him. “Oh, I’m just peachy.”

“Listen, I heard what happened.”

“How? It was like...twenty minutes ago.”

“I just want you to know that I had nothing to do with it.”

“Right. Because you have all the reasons in the world to not try and kill me.”

“You know I wouldn’t. I’m your mother, I love you.”

“Drop the act, Amanda.” 

At this, Nines leaned back in his chair, saying, “Ohhhh.”

“I know that Zlatko made him. And I know that you sent him to kill me. I just don’t know why.”

Amanda’s voice was tight. “We did not send him to kill you.”

Connor matched her tone. “And I don’t believe you.”

Hank nodded at him, his LED calming down.

“Well, darling, you can believe whatever you want.” 

The phone clicked off and Connor released a sigh, placing it on the table. He slouched back in his seat. “You got ‘em?”

“Yes,” Hank said. “The call was made from a public phone outside of a hotel near Brimley. I’ve already contacted the local law enforcement there. They should arrive shortly.”

“I’ve always wanted to visit Brimley,” Nines said. “Hear they got great...trees or whatever.”

Gavin raised an eyebrow at him. “That was the most lackluster response I’ve ever heard.”

“Yeah, well, it’s been a long night.”

“What should we do with the android, then?” Connor asked. 

“Arrest him and try him for murder and assault of an officer,” Hank said.

“That’s gonna be a weird courtroom,” Nines said, head perking back up. “We gotta make sure they don’t accidentally take the wrong Connor.”

“With that dent in his head they’d have to be idiots to,” Gavin said.

“God that throw though,” Nines said, turning an enthusiastic smile to Hank. “Who knew a middle-aged robot - is that a thing? - could have such strength!”

“Yes, yes,” Gavin said. “It’s all very amazing.”

“Aww, babe! Are you jealous?” Nines turned to him, leaning across the table. “‘Cause you know you’re pretty strong, too.” He winked at him.

“God you’re disgusting,” Connor said, pushing away from the table and leaving the room.

“I second that notion,” Hank said, giving them a hard glare before following Connor’s lead.

“You’re incorrigible,” Gavin said, frowning slightly at Nines.

“Ah, you love it.”


	22. Two messes

Connor crossed his arms, frowning at the officer. “So, she was just...standing there?”

The officer nodded. “Yep. We got to the motel quick as we could and she was just there, by the corner, bag in hand. No Zlatko Andronikov to be found.”

“Weird,” Nines said. “How long did it take you to get there?”

“Only about three minutes. We did a sweep of the area but we couldn’t find him anywhere.”

“I want to talk to her,” Connor said, squinting at the woman through the glass.

“Bro, you can’t. You heard Fowler. We’re both off the case. Can’t go investigating our own family.”

Connor smirked a bit. “She’s not family,” he said with a shrug, leaving the room.

Nines looked at the officer who had brought her to their station. “I should, probably go with him.” He hurried after his brother.

Amanda’s head perked up when the door opened, but it dropped slightly when Connor and Nines walked in. 

“Hello, Amanda,” Connor said. He eagerly took the seat across from her at the table. Nines chose to stand in the back, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

Amanda bit her lip. Her eyes were dry and bloodshot. She smiled at them, leaning forward to whisper slightly. “Is this good cop bad cop?” she asked.

Connor chuckled at her a little. “Oh, Amanda. You really are in quite a bit of trouble you know.”

Amanda pursed her lips, leaning back in her seat. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“You built a killer android and sent him off to murder me,” Connor said. “There’s several things wrong about that.”

Amanda’s eyes were no longer dry, the red of her veins now shimmering in tears. “I told you we did not send him to kill you.” She sniffed. “He was acting of his own free will.”

“Oh please.” Connor rolled his eyes. “Zlatko would never purposefully work with or make a deviant. Even now.”

“Well, he has.”

“Why?” Nines interjected, stepping a bit closer. “Why make a deviant? Why one that looks like Connor?”

Amanda bit her lip, recoiling a bit, and looked away. 

“Oh give it up, Amanda,” Connor said. “You’re not protecting him by staying silent. We’re gonna find him eventually so just speed the process along would you?”

Amanda crossed her arms, not looking at or saying anything to them. 

“Come on, Ma,” Nines said. He walked over to the table, placing his hands on it and leaning towards her. “The dude let you alone on the side of the street, probably as bait so he could get away. Stop protecting him. He doesn’t love you.”

“Well, maybe not.” Amanda turned her steady gaze to him. “But I love him.”

“This is getting us nowhere,” Connor said. He got up and unlocked the door. “Enjoy prison.”

Nines studied his mother for a bit, then shook his head and followed Connor out of the room.

They found Hank and Gavin arguing by Connor’s desk.

“What’s going on?” Connor asked.

“Oh good,” Gavin said, seeing them. “Nines, would you please tell Hank that we are not in a relationship.”

Nines shrugged. “We aren’t.”

“There. See?”

Hank sighed, shaking his head. “You may not be in a relationship but what you’re doing is wrong. You work together, you shouldn’t be developing feelings for each other.”

“There are no feelings involved,” Gavin said. “Right, Nines?”

Nines hesitated for the briefest of moments, only Connor catching on to the slight upset in his rhythm. “Of course not,” he said. “Just a way to, uh, relieve stress.”

Nines tried his best to keep his face neutral and to someone who didn’t share that face, it was unnoticeable how it changed. But Connor could see it. The slight downturn in the edges of his cheeks, the sudden lack of shine in his usually glossy eyes. Fuck.

“Uh, I gotta go...do a thing,” Nines said, hastily retreating from the conversation.

Connor groaned and chased after him. He found Nines sitting down in the hallway by the evidence locker, his legs drawn up to his chest, forehead resting on his knees.

“I don’t even want to think about how dirty that floor is,” Connor said, hands on his hips as he looked down at his brother.

“Just go away, man,” Nines mumbled.

Connor sighed and sat down next to him, legs crossed. “You wanna, uh, talk about it?”

“Like you care.”

“Hey. Obviously, it’s weird that you’re in love with an android. But I’m still your brother, idiot.” Connor nudged Nines, forcing his head up.

“I don’t love him,” Nines said. “I just...I don’t know. I guess I thought there was something there, something more than just...whatever. It doesn’t matter. Clearly he doesn’t feel the same so who cares.”

“Look, the Gavin that you think you like isn’t even a real person.”

“Yeah, yeah, he’s just an android. I get it.”

“No, I mean these detective android models are built to adapt to personalities. They are literally designed to change based on who they’re partnered with. So the Gavin that you like, that isn’t even the real Gavin. That’s just the Gavin that Gavin thinks you want Gavin to be.”

Nines looked at him, his face scrunched up. “Huh?”

“Like, if Gavin was my partner, then he’d, I don’t know, probably be a drunk by now or something.”

“Hank isn’t,” Nines mumbled.

“Yeah, well, Hank’s weird.”

Nines sighed, running a hand down his face. “God, what a pair of a mess we are, huh?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Connor said, getting to his feet. “I am perfectly well adjusted and put together.”

“Yeah, okay,” Nines said, laughing and taking his hand. “You keep telling yourself that.”

“Ready to go back out?”

Nines pointed to his face, a fake smile plastered on. “Do I look happy to be alive?”

“Just barely.”

“Ready I am, then.”


	23. Jericho

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in this, Jericho is a gang/mob of humans that helped fight for android rights. I'm kind of maybe thinking about making a companion piece about that.

Nines crossed his arms and bounced up and down a bit in the cold. “I don’t want to be here, Connor. Let’s just go already,” he whined.

“You don’t have to be here,” Connor said, pulling his coat tight around him. 

“And leave you alone to deal with these hooligans?”

Connor gave him a look. “Hooligans?”

“These guys are freaking murderers dude.”

“I don’t remember you calling them that when they were off helping that revolution.”

Nines shivered. He looked around at the docks around them. “We should have brought Hank.”

“Why the fuck should we have brought Hank?” Connor asked.

“Did you see the dent in that wall? Dude threw that android like he was a sack of flour. I’d trust him with my life.”

Connor rolled his eyes and the streetlight next to them blinked out. Nines screamed and grabbed the back of Connor’s jacket, hiding behind him as their eyes adjusted to the new low light.

“Get off of me,” Connor grumbled, shaking his body to throw him off.

The light flickered back on and a woman stood next to them, light glinting off the blade she held in her hand. Nines screamed again, rushing around to Connor’s side, pulling the jacket with him, sliding the material over Connor’s shirt.

“For god’s sake, Nines. You’re a cop. Pull yourself together,” Connor said, pushing him away. He turned his attention to the woman, who was smirking at them. “Mind putting the knife down there?”

“Not a chance,” she said, smile widening as she aimed the tip at them.

Nine’s grabbed his jacket again and Connor reached down for his gun. He didn’t have time to remember he wasn’t legally allowed to have it since he was still technically suspended and had left it at the office before he heard a click from behind him.

The two turned to look, Nines letting out a small whimper. Behind them stood a man, holding a cocked gun aimed at them. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said, his voice soft.

“This was a bad idea,” Nines whispered in his ear. “Why do you always have such bad ideas?”

“Shut up,” Connor snarled at him.

“What are you doing here?” The woman asked.

“I came looking for Jericho,” Connor told her. “But seems all I’ve found is a couple of common street thugs.”

The woman’s smirk turned into a frown and she took a step forward.

“Why would you agitate them?” Nines asked, grip tightening on his jacket.

“That’s enough,” a voice said. Two more men stepped out from the shadows. The one in the neatly pressed suit nodded at the woman. “It’s alright.”

Connor turned to face him. “You must be Markus,” he said.

The man twitched a smile. “So I am. You’ve already met my associates, North,” he gestured at the woman, then the man, “and Simon. And of course,” he turned slightly, hand caressing the cheek of the man next to him, “Josh, my love.”

“Aww,” Nines said, releasing Connor’s coat and seeming to forget the danger of the situation. “I want someone to look at me like that.”

“Markus,” Josh said, slight darkness in his cheeks. “Please, we’re at work.”

“Of course.” Markus let his gaze and touch linger for a little longer before turning back to the twins. “So. Which one of you is Connor?”

“I am,” Connor said, stepping forward a bit. Nines remained behind, glancing between the two holding weapons. 

Markus smiled, stepping closer to him. “What can we do for you, Connor?”

“I need you to track someone down for me.”

Josh stepped up next to Markus, whispering something in his ear. Markus studied Connor for a moment before asking, “you’re detectives?”

Connor’s hand fidgeted. He looked at Josh, wondering what about him gave it away. “Yeah. So?”

“So why don’t you track him?” Markus asked, smirking a bit. Josh smiled, his face an out of place softness amid the rising danger levels.

“I have my reasons,” Connor said.

“The inefficiency of the DPD for starters,” Nines mumbled.

Markus chuckled. “You need a little help outside the law huh?”

Connor clenched his jaw. “Yeah,” he said.

Markus folded his hands together, watching the two of them. “Who exactly would we be looking for?”

“His name is Zlatko Andronikov. Last he was seen was in Brimley. Probably heading over the river.”

“And what shall we do once we find this man? Kill him?”

“Of course not,” Connor said, hiding his true answer behind his sense of justice. “I just need you to keep him in one place so when the cops show up they can actually arrest him.”

Markus hummed.

North let her knife fall, turning to him with a look on her face. “You can’t seriously be considering this. Markus, we can’t just go around helping every idiot who can’t fix their own problems.”

“Zlatko was a known android antagonizer,” Simon said. “Fighting that is why we started if you’ll remember.”

“I remember why we started,” North said. “I also remember that we almost died several times for that. And I don’t feel comfortable putting my life on the line for these two.” She glared at Connor and Nines, and Nines put himself back behind Connor. Connor rolled his eyes. 

“What do you think, my love?” Markus said, turning to Josh.

Josh looked Connor over. “Why do you need this man?”

“He tried to kill me,” Connor said. “Built an android that looks like me to do the job.”

“Not to mention the android that looks like you was also running around murdering bar owners,” Nines said.

“Is it actually impossible for you to keep your mouth shut?” Connor asked.

“Yes.”

Josh whispered into Markus’ ear and Markus smiled at him before addressing the twins. “We’ll do it,” he said. “On a condition, of course.”

“Oh, of course,” Connor said.

“There’s a member of ours recently arrested,” Markus said. “Get them out, and we’ll get your man.”

“Oh, Connor, I don’t feel good about this,” Nines whispered.

Connor stared at Markus, eyes scanning his face. “We’ll do it.”

Markus smiled at him. “Excellent. His name is John McKay. Upon his release, you’ll have Zlatko.”

The light flickered off again, this time not accompanied by Nines’ scream. When it came back on ten seconds later, the four were gone.

“Connor we cannot do this,” Nines said. 

“Don’t be such a worry wart,” Connor told him, already walking away.

Nines grabbed his arm, pulling him back. “You don’t seem to understand what you just did! You made a deal with a mob Connor! You just agreed to break a criminal out of jail so they could illegally detain someone.”

“I didn’t say I was going to break him out,” Connor said, jerking his arm away. “All I said is I was going to get him out. There are plenty of legal ways to do that.” He started walking again.

Nines ran up in front of him, stopping his steps. “And how are you going to do that? Make a deal with the mafia? Connor if you do this there’s no going back, okay? If Fowler finds out you’re fired. More than that you’ll probably be arrested too.”

“I’m doing what has to be done to solve this case,” Connor said. He jabbed a finger at Nines’ chest. “While you just twiddle around, fucking that goddamn android and not being the least bit productive.” 

He pushed past him and Nines did nothing to stop him. He stood there on the dock, listening to Connor walk away.

“You’re a real jerk sometimes, you know?” He called after him. Connor flipped him off over his shoulder and kept walking. NInes sighed. “And I’m a real idiot.” He reached into the inside pocket of his coat, pulling out the packet of papers he had stored there. His dad had always told him he had to go after what he wanted. He resolved to fill the application out as soon as he got home which, judging by the sound of Connor driving off, would take a while.


	24. Statistics

Hank was waiting for Connor when he tried to sneak back into the office. He stood on the inside of the emergency exit, arms crossed, a scowl on his face.

“Jesus,” Connor said upon seeing him as he opened the door. “Careful or your face will stick like that.”

“Where were you?” Hank asked. 

Connor pushed past him. “None of your damn business.”

“Fowler told you you weren’t allowed to leave the precinct.” Hank followed him down the hall. “There’s still a lot of conjunction around this whole case and you have to stay here.”

“Why? Afraid I’m gonna go get some ideas from the android and go on a murdering spree?” Connor chuckled a bit. “Not a bad idea, come to think of it.” He sat down at his desk, waking his computer up. The night staff gave him a questioning look, but paid him no real mind.

“I’m worried about your safety,” Hank said. He sat in the chair next to him. “You were almost killed last night.”

“Do I look dead to you?”

“No.You’re welcome by the way.” Hank gave him a tight smile. “Now. Where were you?”

Connor sighed. “If you must know, which, by the way, you don’t, I was out getting a drink with Nines. There’s not good liquor in here and it’s killing me.”

“You could do with a good sobering up,” Hank told him.

“Fuck you.”

It was quiet as Connor typed at his keyboard and Hank looked off in the distance. Connor yawned briefly, but he stifled it, forcing himself to stay awake.

“Who is John McKay?” Hank asked, still looking away.

“Excuse me?” Connor said. He looked at him, making sure that his computer screen was turned enough away that Hank couldn’t see it. 

“Who is John McKay and why are you so suddenly interested in his case?”

“How the fuck are you doing that?”

“I have access to the full DPD database in my head.” Hank turned his hard stare to Connor. “I can see what files you’re opening.”

“That’s a total invasion of privacy!” Connor yelled, earning them more glances from the others. 

“It’s something any employee can do from any computer. It’s hardly private knowledge. For instance, if you looked into it, you’d be able to tell that recently I looked at the files detailing your father’s death.”

Connor turned to Hank, glaring at him. “What?”

“Seeing as how we’re partners, I figured it was best to know these sort of things,” he said. “And it was pretty clear you weren’t going to tell me, so I looked it up.”

“You can’t just do that!”

“I...I did.”

Connor stood up, slamming his hands on the desk. By this point, everyone in the room was staring at them. “You had no fucking right!”

Hank raised an eyebrow at him. “I have every right. Or did you forget the whole revolution that happened?”

Connor growled at him. “You are not my partner. You are not my friend. And if you don’t stop trying to pry into my personal life you’re going to regret it.”

“Your threats do not scare me, Lieutenant.” Hank blinked at him and gestured to the dent in the wall. “I’m more than capable of taking you in a fight.”

“Oh yeah?” Connor opened his desk drawer and pulled out his gun, aiming it at Hank’s head. There were a few soft gasps from those around him. “How about now, smart guy?”

Hank’s face remained expressionless. “Go ahead,” he said.

“What?”

“Shoot me.” He nodded, scooting a little closer. “Prove you’re such a tough guy. Shoot me.”

Connor growled again, his eyes heavy from existing. He looked around at the others in the room. He couldn’t be seen backing down to a damn android now. He cocked his gun, arm shaking a bit as he positioned his aim.

Hank titled his head, watching him with intent. “I understand it must be hard,” Hank said, “to have watched your father get run over by a car, one driven by an android no less.”

“Yeah,” Connor huffed. “I’m sure you can imagine how it is to know your family is just a fucking statistic to some goddamn machine. Oh, turn left and have an 89% chance of killing some school children? Might as well turn left and have a 100% chance to kill some old guy. You have no idea what’s that like! You don’t have any family. You don’t know what it’s like to be real, to have to worry about your life or the life of others. You exist in a world of figures and numbers. You’ll never be able to understand emotions! So stop pretending like you can!”

Hank leaned back, hands folding in his lap. He shrugged. “So kill me.”

“No thanks,” Connor said. He pulled the clip from his gun and emptied the chamber. “I’ve done the math.” He tossed the gun at Hank. “You’re not worth it.”

He stormed away from his desk, the eyes of everyone in the room quickly glancing away. Hank held the gun, studying it. He frowned, noticing how the safety was still on.


	25. Mind Games

Nines and Gavin frowned, looking down at Connor. He was asleep at his desk, head on his keyboard, a steady stream of drool filling in the keys.

“Ugh,” Nines said. “He’s gonna need a new one.”

“That can’t possibly be comfortable,” Gavin said, tilting his head and studying the sleeping Lieutenant. 

“When we were kids once,” Nines said, “we were playing hide and seek and I was mad at him for finding my really good hiding spot. So when it was his turn to hide, I sort of ‘forgot’ about him. Found him curled up in a cabinet the next morning passed the fuck out.” He glanced at Gavin. “Dude can sleep anywhere I tell ya.”

“That is an extreme amount of dedication to a game,” Gavin said.

“You’re telling me.” 

Hank walked up next to them, holding a cup of coffee which he placed on Connor’s desk, leaving Nines pouting.

“Good morning, detective. Gavin.”

“Hey, Hank,” Nines said. “How was the night.”

“Fairly quiet,” Hank told him. “He passed out not too long after your escapades last night.”

“He-he told you?” Nines asked, leaning back a bit to look at Hank fully.

“Oh yes,” Hank said. He placed his hands behind his back, studying Connor’s sleeping figure. “I know all about where you were last night and John McKay.”

“And you’re...okay? With that?”

Hank looked back at Nines, his eyes blinking slowly. “Obviously I have my reservations. But changing Connor’s mind is hardly easy, no?”

“Farthest thing from it.”

Gavin huffed. “Mind filling me in?”

Nines looked between the two of them and shrugged. “Connor went to Jericho last night. Made a deal with them he would get their friend John out of jail and they, in turn, would get Zlatko for us.”  
“He what?” Hank and Gavin said at the same time.

Nines spun to face Hank, eyes wide. “You didn’t know!?” Hank shook his head, his face wide in surprise. “Oh my god!” Nines groaned and turned away, running a hand over his face. “It is too early in the morning for these goddamn mind games!” He stepped up to Hank, gesturing his head to Connor. “You won’t tell him I told you right?”

Hank gave him a pitiful look. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Oh, thank God.” He moaned and slumped away. “If you need me, I’ll be crawling into a hole and dying.”

Gavin and Hank stared at each other.

“What are we going to do about that?” Hank asked.

“He’ll be over it in a few minutes,” Gavin said.

“Not him. Connor. And his ridiculous plan.”

“Oh right. That. Well.” Gavin sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking down at Connor. “We could help him.”

“Are you insane?” Hank grabbed Gavin’s arm and brought him in close, dropping his voice to a whisper. “John McKay is on trial for murder. And he’s absolutely guilty. We can’t just let him go.”

“But getting Zlatko is a bigger priority,” Gavin whispered back. “If we do this we’ll finish this cursed case once and for all.”

“Our job is to put criminals away,” Hank hissed. “Not let them back out on the streets.”

“I know. But Zlatko is a big name criminal. This John guy is barely anything. He’s killed one person and the guy was a known android abuser.”

“Is that what this is about? Murder is murder, Gavin. He doesn't get a free pass just because the guy was an asshole.”

“I’m just saying. It’s not like the streets are going to become full of crime and terror if he’s out. But if we don’t get Zlatko in, they will be.”

“What the fuck are you two idiots whispering about?” the slurred voice of Connor said, interrupting their conversation.

The two stood up straight, watching him as Connor wiped the drool off his indented face.

“Just the case,” Gavin said, looking sideways at Hank. “We’d like you to know, we’re happy to help in any way you need.” He smiled then, small but impressionable.

“Okay,” Connor said, giving them both a look. “But I’m off the case. So fuck off and leave me alone.”

Gavin gave him a quick nod and went over to Nines, who was sitting low in his chair, scrunched down into his coat.

Hank, however, remained, eyeing Connor as the man cleaned off his keyboard.

“Can I help you?” Connor asked, not bothering to look at him.

“Sometimes we do reckless things in pursuit of our goals,” Hank said. “I’d hate to see you hurt by your pride and lack of common sense.”

“Thank you Mr. Fortune Cookie. Now seriously fuck off. I’ve got a whole day of nothing to do.”


	26. Suspension

Nines slapped a bag down on Connor’s desk and sat on the edge. “I brought breakfast,” he said, smiling widely at him. “The most important meal of the day, don’t ya think?”

“Thanks.” Connor grabbed the bag and opened it. He sighed and gave his brother a weary look. “Bagels?”

“What is your thing with bagels?” Nines asked. “Always the bagels with this guy.”

“It’s your thing with bagels,” Connor said, digging one out. “I’m just the innocent bystander caught in the line of fire.”

“Wow,” Nines said, taking the bag from him. “You don’t deserve my bagels.”

“Already got one.” Connor winked at him and took a bite. 

Nines shifted his position, peering over Connor’s shoulder to look at his computer. “So, got a plan yet?”

Connor grumbled. “Not even close. Not only is this guy completely guilty, they have so much evidence on him taking him to trial is almost a joke.” Connor rested his chin on one hand and scrolled through the file. He shook his head a bit. “There’s no way this is gonna happen.”

Nines shrugged. “Guess you’ll just have to find Zlaty the professional, legal way.”

“Clearly that won’t work,” Connor grumbled. “Every time we get close to him he just slips away. Like the fucking slippery snake he is.”

“Could try talking to mom again.”

Connor scoffed. “Be my guest. She’s so tight-lipped her mouth could turn coal to diamonds.”

“I think you need to go back to sleep,” Nines said, slipping off the desk. “You’re loopy.”

“Stern!” The bolstering voice of Fowler cut through the air and made the two of them jump.

The turned, watching the man huff his way over, followed by Hank, who was avoiding looking at them.

“Problem?” Connor asked, leaning back in his chair, playing with a pen in his hand. 

“Are you working a case?” Fowler asked, giving him a hard stare.

Connor glanced over at Hank, a slight scowl on his face. “No.”

Fowler sighed, closing his eyes and putting his hands on his hips. “That’s it. You are officially suspended until this case is closed. Go home.”

“What?” Connor stood up, face darkening. “You can’t do that.”

“I can and I am. You’re a liability right now. Go home and take it easy for a few days.”

“You’ll never get him,” Connor said. “Might as well just fire me.”

“Don’t give me any ideas,” Fowler threatened, pointing a finger at him.

Connor’s jaw tightened and Fowler nodded, turning back to his office. Connor turned his glare to Hank, who fidgeted where he stood.

“You’re starting to become worth it,” he growled. He grabbed his coat and stomped out of the office.

Nines grabbed his bagel and held it up in the air. “Hey! You forgot your bagel!” He sighed, turning to look at Hank. “Any particular reason you tatled?”

“I was worried for his well being,” Hank said, eyes shifted to the side. 

“So instead of him being here surrounded by cops and guns, you sent the man who has had a recent attack on his life home alone?” Nines humphed. “Smart planning.”

“He’s not fit for duty,” Hank said, his eyes slowly wandering over to Nines. “Don’t know why he was ever cleared for it in the first place.”

Nines smirked. “He can be very convincing when he wants to be.”

Hank tilted his head. “I do wonder...why are you not so affected by the circumstances of your father’s death?”

“Oh, well that’s because I am a well-adjusted member of society. Unlike my brother.”

Hank half-smiled at him. “Surely his death must have affected you in some way.”

“Well, obviously. But, well, you know. Connor was always closer to Dad than I was. I mean, he always said he loved us equally but I’m pretty sure Con was his favorite.” Nines chuckled a bit. “At least Mom made it out in the open. Speaking of, I gotta go have a chat with her.”

“You’re not on the case,” Hank said, following Nines across the bullpen.

“I’m not going as a detective,” Nines said. He smirked. “Just a boy visiting his Ma in the slammer.”


	27. A boy and his Ma

Nines slumped his way to the cell in the back corner. His mother was sitting on the bench, legs crossed, the top one jumping a bit. She had her arms wrapped around her chest, hugging herself close as she looked down at the ground.

Nines’ body sagged. His mother may have been a controlling and uncaring beast of a woman, but she was still a person, and still his Ma. He sighed, pressing his hand to the scanner next to the door. 

Amanda’s head snapped up as Nines walked in, the gentle whirl of the door closing behind him.

“Hey, Ma,” he said, standing stiff by the exit. He felt like a kid again, standing by the door to the kitchen, watching his mother sit at the table post yet another fight with his father.

Amanda straightened her body, turning her arms from a hugging gesture to a cross over her chest. “Hello, Richard.” She had that look on her face. That I’m-better-than-everyone look that she always had on when she was scared or worried. 

Nines let her think she fooled him.

“Enjoy your first night in jail?” Nines smiled a bit, his mouth following the motion the rest of his face couldn’t express.

“A holding cell is hardly jail,” Amanda said, shaking her head a little bit. She smirked at him a bit, the confidence lacking in her eyes. “I’m sure I’ll be out soon.”

“Right,” Nines said. He toed his way closer. “So. Uh. Change your mind about talking?”

Amanda pursed her lips and looked away. Nines sighed, wishing he had a chair he could sit on to make it more comfortable. The only other option was sitting on the bench next to Amanda. He inched closer still.

“You don’t have to tell us where he is,” Nines said. “I’m sure you probably don’t even know.”

Amanda chuckled, and when she turned back to look at Nines her eyes held more light to them. “Nice try,” she said. “But I raised you. I know all your tricks.”

“Fair point,” Nines said. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.” By this point in the conversation he had reached the bench and he shifted forward, gingerly sitting on the edge, his legs tense ready to move if he had to.

When Amanda didn’t deter him, Nines sat back a bit more, settling into the seat, sighing softly.

“So um...any idea why that android tried to kill Connor? I mean, you said he was operating under free will?”

Amanda looked down, letting her hands fall into her lap, folding them together. “I wish I could say I knew. He does have free will, whether you believe me or not.” She shook her head. “But it doesn’t explain why he would try to kill your brother.”

“I mean...remember when we were like, five or something? And Connor tried to drown me in that lil pond we had at the old house?” Nines chuckled. “Pretty sure wanting to kill your twin is like, pretty common. Must have something to do with the whole similar face there can only be one thing. Ever seen that movie? The One or something? Great movie. Guy going around killing all the hims from every universe so he can absorb their pow-”

Nines was cut off by his mother’s had on his. He looked at it, shrinking away a bit. 

“Sorry,” he said. “Rambling, I know.”

Amanda patted his hand, and then left hers on top, her usually smooth skin a bit wrinkled and hard.

“Anyway,” Nines said. “It may have just been the android wanting to like, really take over as being Connor. Why Connor though?”

Amanda shrugged. “Zlaty has been...searching for a new business model now that that revolution has happened. He was testing to see the realities of transferring human conscious into a model android. Good money in that if you can get it to work.”

“Well why not do one of you?”

“He was afraid.” Amanda took a big sigh. “Of exactly what happened.”

“Yeesh,” Nines said. “Couldn’t have given us a heads up? Especially once he started running around murdering bar owners?”

Amanda shook her head, looking down and away. “We didn’t really know. He left, not like we could have legally kept him there.”

“Not like legalities stopped him before,” Nines mumbled.

“We weren’t really sure it was him until you caught him, until we saw.” She frowned. “And it all went downhill from there.”

Nines cleared his throat, desperate to change the mood of the room. “So why not make me?” He asked. “I mean, who doesn’t want two li’l Rich’s running around causing mass mayhem. I mean, just imagine the double act we could do.”

Amanda chuckled and glanced over at him. “One of your is enough.”

“Yeah that’s true. Better to have two depressed masses of insecurity who hates you.”

Amanda’s face fell a little. “Hates me, huh?”

Nines gulped. “Well, okay hate is a strong word. I was just using that for emphasis. I’m sure he loves you. Even if just in a you’re-family-so-I-have-to kind of way.”

“No. I think perhaps you are right. Maybe it’s for the best.”

“Ah. C’mon, Ma!” Nines removed his hand from under hers, placing it up on her shoulder instead. “You were just hard on him as a kid is all. He still hasn’t come to appreciate the independence that allowed him.”

“He needed it,” Amanda said, her voice soft. “He never seemed able to reach his full potential on his own. He needed that push.”

Nines nodded. “Maybe.” He shrugged, putting his hands on his knees. “Maybe that push will help him find and catch your delinquent husband.”

“I heard he was off the case?”

“Yeah well,” Nines got to his feet. “You know Connor.”

Amanda smiled softly. “Yes. I do. Send him my love will you?”

Nines smiled at her over his shoulder as he opened the door. “Will do.”


	28. Tampered

Nines opened the door to their apartment and sighed in relief when he saw Connor. “Oh thank god. You’re still here.”

Connor looked up from the TV. “Where the fuck would I have gone?”

Nines shrugged. “I dunno. Figured you might have gone off to spring what’s his face from jail.”

“How exactly would I do that. Huh?”

“Bombs probably.”

“Probably.”

Nines took off his coat and tossed it on the chair, falling into the couch, his feet bouncing up to rest on the coffee table. “Hell of a week, huh?” 

Connor snorted, then started laughing. He leaned forward, hand on his stomach as he laughed, trying to catch his breath but his body seemingly unable to stop.

Nines sat up a bit, finding himself laughing a bit as well. “What?” he asked between giggles. “What’s so funny.”

Connor wheezed. “It’s only been a week,” he managed to cough out, before returning to laughter.

Nines fell back, hand on his own stomach, muscles aching as he laughed with his brother. They were both so caught up in their amusement that neither of them heard the first knock on the door. It wasn’t until the person on the other side was slamming their fist into the wood that either of them was able to catch their breath.

“I got it, I got it,” Nines said, trying to calm his breath as Connor giggled on the couch.

Nines took a couple of deep breaths before opening the door, his facing falling microscopically as he saw Gavin standing there, confusion on his face.

“Is everything alright, detective?” Gavin asked.

Nines coughed away the last of his laughter. “Oh yeah. We’re just reveling in the joy that is our life.”

“Ah,” Gavin said, stepping in. “I see.”

“You have a real reason for coming here?” Connor asked. “Cause I ain’t getting kicked out of my apartment so you two can fuck.”

“Boo,” Nines said.

“Actually,” Gavin said, giving Nines a look. “I thought you might be interested to hear that John McKay has been released from jail.”

Connor startled, sitting up straight. “What?”

“It appears that some of the evidence was tampered with,” Gavin said, smiling slightly and folding his hands behind his back. “The case has been thrown out and he’s to be released tonight.”

“Seriously?” Nines asked.

Gavin nodded, his smiling growing a bit, his chest slightly puffed out.

“How did that happen?” Connor asked. “I checked their files they seemed pretty organized and on top of things. It doesn’t seem like they would just...mishandle evidence like that.”

“I suppose someone must have gone in after the fact and...mishandled it.”

“You sly mother fucker,” Nines said, a smirk on his face. He held his hand out, head bobbing a bit. 

And Gavin gave him a high-five.

Nines gasped, one hand on his mouth, the recently slapped out pointing at Nines. “You saw that,” he said, moving his point to Connor. “He high-fived me. You were witness!”

Connor stood up, wary eyes on the android. “You tampered with evidence?”

“Of course not,” Gavin said, recoiling a bit. “I would never.”

Connor half chuckled and shook his head. “Shit. Guess I’ll let Markus-” his phone started ringing “-know.” He pulled it out of his pocket and stared at it with an open mouth.

“That’s him isn’t it?” Nines asked, stepping behind Nines a bit. “I’m telling you, these guys are creepy. They’ve probably got this whole place bugged.”

“Hey Markus,” Connor said, putting his phone on speaker and frowning at Nines a bit.

“Hey, Connor,” Markus said, his voice filling the room. “I don’t know how you did it, but that was some quick work there.”

“Yeah, well,” Connor glanced at Gavin and sighed. “I had a bit of help,” he said through slightly clenched teeth.

Nines poked Gavin’s shoulder and smiled, giving the android a thumbs up.

Markus chuckled a little. “Well, if the detective thing doesn’t work out, we sure wouldn’t mind having you around at Jericho.”

“I appreciate the offer,” Connor said, “but I think I’m good where I am.”

“To each their own,” Markus said. “Anyway, you’ve held up your end of the bargain so here’s ours. Zlatko is currently staying at a motel down on Roger St, about seven blocks from the precinct.”

“He’s back in Detroit?” Connor asked.

“That would explain why they didn’t find him over the river,” Nines mumbled.

“Yep. Not sure what he’s doing here. Just been holed up in his room. Making a lot of calls, though,” Markus informed him. “Doesn’t look like he’s moving anytime soon but we’ve got eyes on him if he does.”

“Perfect. Thank you. We’ll be there soon.”

Connor hung up and Nines slung one arm around Gavin, leaning off to the side. “So. We’ll call the precinct and have them send the night shit?”

Connor scoffed, grabbing his jacket from the corner it had been tossed in. “Are you kidding me? We can’t send uniforms there. He’ll just run again. I’m going down there myself.”

“Uh, Connor.” Nines slid to the side, blocking Connor’s path. “That’s not exactly the best idea. I mean, you aren’t even allowed to work right now.”

“I don’t wanna hear it,” Connor said, arms crossed over his chest. “Now get out of my way so I can go arrest our step-father.”

Nines shrugged and slid back to the side, reaching for his own jacket as Connor left.

“You know,” Gavin said, watching Nines slip his coat on. “You don’t have to follow him.”

“He’s my brother,” Nines said, leaving. 

Gavin sighed, looked around at the empty room, and then followed the twins out.


	29. Finally

Connor pulled the car to the side of the street, knuckles white on the steering wheel as he breathed, staring down at the dashboard. Nines craned his neck from the passenger seat, looking up at the windows of the motel room. Gavin mimicked his motions from the back seat.

Connor took a controlled sigh and Nines looked over at him, a small frown on his face. “You okay?”

“Yep.” Connor opened the door and let it slam behind him. Nines and Gavin shared a look before following him. 

The building was shaped in a large L, and they gathered at the end of it, scanning the room numbers for room 28.

Connor reached his hand back to Nines, saying, “give me your gun.”

“Oh I didn’t bring it with me,” Nines said, clearing his throat a bit.

“Nines,” Connor growled, turning a glare to him.

Nines sighed and reached to his side, pulling his gun out of its holster and passing it over to Connor.

“I’ll go in first,” Connor whispered. “Nines, you wait here. Gavin, go around back in case he tries to escape.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Nines asked. But Connor was already gone, one hand holding the gun by his thigh as he snuck forward. Nines looked back at Gavin, only to see him disappearing behind the side of the building. Nines sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Connor’s eyes scanned over the parking lot as he walked, body tensing with every scuffle of shadowed movement. He held his breath as he moved, as if afraid that breathing was going to alert the whole building to his presence.

“Hey!” a voice shouted behind him. 

Connor spun around, gun aimed at whoever was walking out of the shadows.

“What the hell took you so long?” The man stepped into the light. He was about a head taller than Connor and sported a bushy blond beard under a mop of blond hair. Behind him, a shorter man cracked his knuckles, large muscles moving beneath a thin sheet of skin.

“I, uh,” Connor let his body relax just a little bit. He figured these guys must belong to Jericho.

“C’mon,” the tall one said, grabbing Connor’s shoulder and leading him towards the motel. “Boss’ll want to see ya.”

Connor let himself get pushed up the small stairs to the left, rounding the corner before stopping before door 28. The tall one produced a key and opened the door, ushering Connor in.

Zlatko stood in the center of the room, eyes glued to the tv playing a news station. His head snapped to the door when they entered, eyes wild. 

“Look who finally showed up,” the muscular one said, squeezing past Connor to enter the room.

Zlatko looked Connor up and down then relaxed a bit, his eyes still wide and bloodshot. “Well?” he said. “Where is she?”

Connor looked between the three of them, mind racing, heart beating just as fast. “Where’s who?”

Zlatko narrowed his eyes at him. “Amanda,” he hissed.

Connor furrowed his eyebrows, too confused by the situation to be rightly angry at the man standing before him. “Uhm. In jail?”

The tall man let out a huff of air and turned, walking further into the room. Connor watched him, noticing the slight limp in his left leg.

“That old android did rough him up a bit,” the muscular man said. “Musta broke him a bit.”

Zlatko rushed forward, grabbing Connor’s head. He twisted and turned it as Connor adjusted his grip on his gun. Zlatko released him, stepping back, eyes wild again. “Shit,” he said.

“Shit indeed,” Connor snarled. He raised his arm and fired. The muscular man knocked against his arm, sending the bullet into the tall one’s arm, specks of blue splattering the motel wall.

Connor struggled to get his gun aimed again for a better shot but the muscular man grabbed his hand, twisting the gun out of his grip as Zlatko backed up.

Connor decided to count his losses and turned, escaping out the door that they had left open. 

“After him!” Zlatko shouted.

Connor heard the two androids behind him give chase, their feet pounding against the floor. Connor grabbed the railing and hopped over it, landing on the steps, stumbling down them. The tall one didn’t bother with stairs, hopping over the railing and landing on the pavement. 

Connor skittered to a stop, turning to the right and running out towards the street.

“Connor!” Nines called out, jogging up to him. Then he spotted the two guys chasing him and said, “uh-oh.”

Connor grabbed Nines arm and dragged him along, rounding the corner to where Gavin was waiting by the emergency exit door. Gavin saw them and tilted his head. He started to walk towards them but the door crashed open, the muscular android trying to head them off.

Gavin jumped into action, grabbing the man around the neck and trying to drag him to the ground. There was a bang and a bullet ricocheted off the sidewalk next to them. 

Connor cursed and pulled Nines behind the exit door, hiding in the little hallway.

“Gavin, watch out!” Nines shouted.

Gavin twisted his body as a second shot went off, the bullet lodging itself in the other android’s chest. Gavin dropped the body and joined the twins in the hallway, closing the door behind him.

“Are you okay?” Gavin asked, hand landing on Nines’ arm.

“Yeah,” Nines said. “You?”

Gavin nodded and Connor crept down the hall a bit. “He’ll be coming around this side.”

“Here,” Gavin moved past them arms up, shielding them from the entrance. “I’ll deal with him.”

“Like hell,” Nines said. 

He tried to elbow past and the two of them struggled in the space a bit before they heard a bang and a loud thud that stilled their movements.

“What the hell was that?” Gavin asked.

Nines took the opportunity and pushed past, peeking out around the corner.

“Oh thank god it’s Hank. It’s Hank guys, it’s okay, everything’s fine.”

The three walked out and stared at Hank. He was standing above the broken body of the android, a bullet hole in his shoulder leaking blue down his shirt. There were a few bricks on the ground and an android shaped dent in the side of the building.

“Holy shit,” Nines said. “Again with the amazing tosses.”

“Are...are you okay?” Connor asked, eyes fixated on the bullet hole.

Hank tore his eyes from the android and regarded Connor. “Android’s don’t feel pain,” he told him, simply.

The four startled when the sirens sounded in the distance.

“Yeah,” Nines said, “I’d probably call the cops on us, too.”

“You should get out of here,” Gavin said to Connor.

“Yeah I-Zlatko!” Connor raced back up the steps, convinced that the man had escaped in the madness, his anger growing as he imagined no other way to catch the guy without Jericho’s help.

He found Zlatko lying on the ground, face down, hands cuffed behind his back. He was sputtering nonsense and curses. One leg out the window was the girl from Jericho. “We always keep our promises,” she said. Then she winked at him before hopping out the window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! it's really close to the end now. just a few loose ends to tie up. I just want to thank you all for bearing with me through the months it took to finally finish this, I really appreciate each and every one of you. I'm going to try and get this done today, but if not it'll def. be done by the week's end <3


	30. Chicago Blues

There was a great commotion in the precinct when the four returned with the officers, Zlatko in handcuffs behind them. Mostly it was celebratory. Not only had the bar killings case been solved, but they finally found the guy they were looking for for days. Even those who hadn’t been helping on the case were excited. Nobody really seemed to mind much that Connor was there when he was supposed to be on leave. 

The android officers in the building were particularly happy to see Zlatko finally put away.

They tossed Zlatko in a holding cell, deciding that they were okay leaving the interrogation to someone who was actually on the case this time. They had gotten him, their job was done.

As they took Zlatko down the hall, Amanda stood up in her cell, hands on the glass as she watched them pass.

“Zlatko?” She asked, twisting her head to try and see him better.

The man in handcuffs looked up at her. His face fell and he sighed, hanging his head as he was escorted into the cell. From across the hall, android Connor’s body twitched a bit and watched the scene unfolding, laughing his strange mechanical laugh as his head pulled against its strap.

Connor glanced at him then over at Amanda. She was looking down, fear written all over her body.

Connor rolled his eyes. “He came back for you,” he said. 

Nines looked at him with raised eyebrows. Amanda sniffled and, despite the situation, she smiled a bit. 

The moment was broken when Fowler’s voice filled the air, shouting the twins’ name. They gave each other a look and followed Fowler to his office.

The two stood in the center of the room, glancing between each other and Fowler as the captain leaned over his desk, head hung, sighing.

“It’s okay to admit you were wrong,” Connor said. 

Nines sucked his breath in and Fowler looked up, his eyes dark.

“You’re suspended for two weeks,” Fowler said, staring hard at Connor.

Connor crossed his arms but nodded. “That’s fair.”

Fowler stood up, shaking his head. “Why is it every time we have a messy case it’s you two?”

“Well that’s not entirely true,” Nines said. “There was that time Smalls lost that body in the lake.”

Fowler turned his glare to Nines. “And you’re on desk duty until all the paperwork from this case gets sorted out.”

“A very efficient punishment, sir,” Nines said.

Fowler rubbed at his tired eyes. “Just, just go home. I don’t even want to look at you two right now.”

The twins nodded and slipped out of the room. They met up with Gavin over at Connor’s desk.

“Where’s Hank?” Connor asked. Nines raised an eyebrow at him. “Not like I care, just curious.”

“He’s getting his wound fixed,” Gavin told him. “Captain Fowler gave him a week off to recover.”

“Guess it’s just the two of us stuck doing paperwork together then, huh?” Nines asked.

Gavin smirked at him. “I’m still cleared for field duty,” he said. “What makes you think I’d spend my time doing the paperwork for a case I’m not even on?”

“That’s cold,” Nines said, pouting a bit.

Connor scoffed a chuckle at them. “You’ve done desk duty before. You’ll be fine.”

“Yeah,” Nines said. “And I almost died back then.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Connor said.

“Dramatic is part of his personality,” Gavin said, smiling a bit.

“That’s it,” Nines said. “It’s late, and I’m going the fuck to sleep.”

-

The next day had a strange feeling in the air. Everyone was slightly relaxed, not having the stress of someone looking like them on the loose or having to find Zlatko. But as Nines sat at his desk, trying to figure out how the hell he was going to explain why Connor was there last night in his report, he couldn't help but feel like something was amiss. They had Zlatko, they had gotten the names and locations of all his creations so they could be properly documented, and the android Connor was still perfectly locked away. But something nagged at the back of his mind, begging for attention even though he had no idea what that thing was.

It came back to him, however, when he returned home that night. Connor was sitting on the couch, arms crossed, a scowl on his face. Sitting on the coffee table before him was the crumpled up and tossed away application for the Chicago job.

Nines winced and cursed himself internally.

“Why is it empty?” Connor asked, eyes flicking up to his brother.

“Uh. Well, you know,” Nine said, rubbing the back of his head.

“I don’t.” Connor stood up, eyes scanning over Nines’ face. “It’s what you want, isn’t it? You’ve been trying to get into vice since you started. Why the fuck would you pass up and opportunity like this?”

Nines shook his head. “It’s windy in Chicago,” he said, grimacing and forcing his body to shiver.

“Bullshit,” Connor said, dragging the mood back down. He stepped around the table and stood before Nines. “I know why you’re not going, and it’s bullshit!”

Nines shrugged off his jacket, feeling the fight coming on and not wanting to get it ruined. “Do enlighten me.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Connor said, his face turning a bit red. 

“That’s not-”

Connor’s fist snapped out, making contact with the side of Nine’s face. Nines grabbed his eye, stumbling back a bit.

“What the actual fuck, dude?”

“Stop lying,” Connor told him. his teeth clenched together. “I’m sick of it.”

Nines thought briefly about trying to deflate the situation, but he couldn’t exactly let a hit go unanswered. So he lunged forward, arms wrapping around Connor and tackling him to the ground.

Nines pinned Connor to the ground, one knee on his chest, hands pinning wrists to the carpet. “You know what I’m sick of? Your fucking lone wolf attitude!”

Connor brought one leg up, hooking it around Nines and forcing him over, using the momentum to reverse their positions, slamming Nines against the ground. “I’m not going to let you throw your life away because you think you need to fix your little brother and be there for him. You don’t owe me anything.”

Nines growled and copied Connor’s movements, regaining control again. “I don’t do it because you’re my brother. I do it because you’re my best friend and, believe it or not, when you aren’t being an insufferable prick, you’re actually enjoyable company.”

Connor rocked his body, disrupting Nine’s balance and using this to flip them over again. “Friend or brother, I’m not letting you ruin your future over me.”

Nines groaned. “You are so fucking selfish. Not everything is about you!”

“Then what?” Connor asked.

Nines bucked up, but Connor moved to the side, trying to counter his movement. Their heads smacked together and the two fell back, laying opposite of each other, hands on their foreheads.

“Fuck,” Nines groaned. He let his hand fall away, staring at the ceiling. “I...We’ve never been apart before,” he said, the sentiment laying over them like a warm blanket. “Not really.”

Connor sighed and turned his head to look down at his brother. He placed his hand on Nine’s leg. “You can’t let fear rule your life, man. You gotta go after what you want.”

“Yeah, I know,” Nines said. “Jesus, you really sound just like dad sometimes.”

Connor chuckled, looking back up at the ceiling. “Do you think...I mean do you suppose…” he sighed.

Nines smirked to himself. “He’d be proud of you,” he said, his voice soft. “Well, maybe not the whole anger issue thing, but, still.”

Connor patted Nine’s leg. “I know he was proud of you,” he said. “I, uh, I don’t know why I never told you but...the morning before it happened? He called looking for you. But you were in the shower so he left a message.”

Nines raised himself up on his elbows, looking down at his brother. Connor mimicked his movements, eyes wet and downcast.

“He said what you did on the park case was...amazing.” Connor shook his head, wiping his eyes away. “I don’t know why I never told you. I’m sorry.”

Nines nodded. “That’s alright,” he said. He smirked. “At least you’re still mom’s favorite.”

Connor laughed, sniffling. “Shut-up.”

Nines got to his feet and helped Connor up. He touched at his eye. “Why do you always gotta aim for the eye dude? I’m gonna get optical damage one of these days.”

“You should thank me,” Connor said. “Makes you look rugged.”

“Oh shut it.”


	31. All tied up

The day Hank returned to work Fowler made a great show of telling the department that Nines was going to Chicago to join their vice team and how everyone should be proud of him. 

Nines shrunk into his seat, face beat red as everyone clapped for him. Everyone except for Gavin, who tilted his head and looked at Nines with confusion in his eyes.

“What?” Nines asked once everyone had settled down. 

“I didn’t know you were going to Chicago,” Gavin said. Nines thought the android looked a little disappointed, but he knew better than that.

“Yeah, well, I’ve always wanted to work in vice and they had an opening so,” he shrugged, feeling a little guilty for no apparent reason.

Gavin nodded. “You know, I hear it’s windy in Chicago.”

Nines chuckled softly. “I’ll pack my parka.”

Gavin smiled, but his eyes looked sad. “I’m sure you’ll fit in perfectly,” he said. “And I hope you enjoy yourself.”

“Yeah. Uh. You two. Enjoying yourself I mean.”

They sat in quiet for a while. 

“What level shall we part on?” Gavin asked suddenly. Nines furrowed his eyebrows at him. “Of friendship,” he clarified.

“Oh,” Nines said, sitting up regularly. “I’d say we probably hit five by this point.”

Gavin smiled, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

-

On Connor’s last day of leave, they packed a truck up with all of Nine’s ‘junk’, as Connor had referred to it, and drove him up to his new apartment in Chicago.

“I guess this is it, huh?” Nines said, standing by the door, looking at how little space his boxes took in the new space. 

Connor scoffed. “You make it sound like we’re never going to see each other again. I mean, this is the 21st century. We do have telephones, you know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Nines said. “But it’s different.” He shrugged. “I guess I’m just nervous. I mean, you still get to hang out with everyone.”

“You’ll be fine,” Connor told him. “You’ve never had trouble making friends. Who knows, maybe you’ll even find yourself a new android fuck buddy.”

Nines chuckled an airy laugh, head falling a bit. “Yeah, maybe.”

Connor stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Nines.

“Oh,” Nine said. “This is happening.”

“Shut up,” Connor mumbled.

Nines laughed and returned the hug, holding his brother close. “Be good,” he said.

“You too.”

-

Connor returned to work, perfectly aware of the non-emptiness that was Nine’s old desk. Fowler had already filled Nines position, a new partner for Gavin and a new detective for Connor to keep an eye on.

Connor glanced from the new kid to Hank. He looked fine, but Connor noticed the stiffness in his arm movement when he reached out for a pen.

“Hey, uh,” Connor mumbled.

“What was that?” Hank asked, looking up at him with a blank expression.

Connor sighed. “I, uh, I guess I’m sorry.”

Hank raised an eyebrow. “You guess?”

“Alright, alright. I am sorry. I shouldn’t have treated you how I did. It was...wrong.”

Hank blinked at him, then the edges of his lips curled up slightly. “Apology accepted.”

“Good.” Connor settled into his seat. “So, since it seems we're going to be partners for a while now, I should know why you won’t connect with other androids. I mean, we’re going to be working on other cases involving androids in the future. And it’s not exactly like I can look up your entire past history in the database.”

“Right,” Hank nodded. He sighed, frowning slightly, his hands fidgeting with the pen. “It was an old case,” he said. “From before the revolution. I was tasked to capture a deviant. I did so, with great ease.” Connor rolled his eyes. “But...I was asked to connect with them and try to figure out the location of other deviants. I did but...they were surprisingly stronger than me. Instead of me getting the information I needed...they managed to probe me for information, stealing a great deal of police information from my mind. It was...a great invasion and something that I’m still terribly…”

“Afraid of?” Connor offered.

“Yes,” Hank said. “I suppose that explains it.”

“Well, shit,” Connor said. “That makes sense, I guess. I certainly would be freaked out if someone poked around in my brain.”

Hank nodded.

“Thanks for sharing,” Connor said. Then he smirked. “See, it wasn’t that bad, was it?”

Hank just scoffed at him.

-

Two weeks passed and the office settled into a norm. Hank and Connor turned out to be pretty good partners when they weren’t trying to kill each other, solving three cases together in that time period.

There was a bit of a void left behind without Nines there, but everyone had to agree that a great deal more work got done when he wasn’t around distracting everyone.

One day, Gavin’s new partner approached them. 

“Is there a problem?” Connor asked, ready to hear another simple problem the guy was too afraid to mess up to fix on his own.

“It’s Gavin,” he said. “I think he’s...broken?”

Connor looked over at the android. He was sitting at his desk, typing up reports. “He’s been doing his job just fine,” Connor said.

“Yeah but he’s...odd,” the guys said. “Like, depressing.”

Connor looked to Hank. “Can androids be depressed?”

Hank shrugged. “It’s possible. But I’m not sure what Gavin would have to be depressed about.”

Connor groaned, running a hand over his face. “I’ve got an idea. Maybe we should talk to him.”

Hank tilted his head. “What are you thinking?”

“A certain familiar face,” Connor said. 

“You think?”

Connor nodded and the two got up, leaving the new guy by their desks and gathering around Gavin.

Gavin looked up at them. “Hello,” he said, looking back at his work.

Connor gave Hank a look. 

“Gavin,” Hank started. “Is everything alright.”

Gavin furrowed his eyebrows, still typing. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”

Connor leaned against the desk, crossing his legs at the ankle. “Sometimes it’s hard to have feelings for someone.”

“I do not have feelings for Nines.”

Connor shook his head. “Never said his name.”

Gavin sighed, a bit of a growl to it. “I don’t. I was simply utilizing my social programming to create a better work relationship. Now that he’s gone I have zero regards for him.”

“Clearly,” Connor mumbled.

“I don’t think that’s true,” Hank said. “Perhaps you are using that excuse because you don’t want to admit you have feelings for a human.”

“I-I don’t!”

Connor sighed and pushed away from the desk. “You know, I’m sure Chicago would just love to have an android detective with them. Just a thought.”

Connor walked away and Gavin snapped his attention to Hank. “I…” he clenched his hands into fists. “I thought it would go away when he did,” he whispered.

“Maybe you should tell him that,” Hank suggested.

“I don’t think...he obviously doesn’t feel the same. He didn’t even tell me he was going to Chicago.”

Hank placed a hand on Gavin’s shoulder. “You two really are quite a pair.”


	32. Epilogue

They met up in Kalamazoo, MI because it was halfway between the offices and Nines thought it sounded funny.

Connor and Hank got there first, on time, not even the slight bit surprised to find the other two not there yet. Connor still sighed and shook his head, sitting at one of the tables in the coffee shop.

“Nines is a terrible influence,” Hank said, sitting next to the man. 

“You’re telling me. Did you know that our proficiency has gone up by 5% with him gone?”

“And it’s certainly not because his replacement is all that great.”

The two of them laughed and then looked up as the bell above the door rang. Nines was wearing a pair of hot pink sunglasses and a sweater that said ‘I <3 Kalamazoo’ on the front. He gasped upon seeing them and rushed over. Gavin shook his head and walked up at a normal speed.

“You guys,” Nines said, whipping his glasses off and leaning over the table. “This place is amazing.”

“It’s just like every other small town in Michigan,” Hank informed him.

“Uhm, does every town in Michigan have cool ass sweaters like this?” He leaned back, pulling the material on his sweater down, stretching the logo across his chest.

“Yes,” Connor told him.

“Shut-up,” Nines said, letting Gavin take his arm and sit them down at the table. 

They ordered coffee and everyone tried to get Nines to buy decaf, but he insisted on an espresso. And everyone groaned-Gavin especially, who had to go home and deal with him after.

“So,” Nines said, settling into his chair. “How goes the good ol’ D.P.D?” 

“Much better with you gone,” Connor said, smirking at him.

“Wow, rude.”

“Although, your replacement isn’t exactly up to snuff,” Hank said.

Nines nodded, laughing a bit. “Yeah, Gavs filled me in on that a bit.”

“How’s vice going?” Connor asked. “It’s hard to understand you when you’re squealing like a little girl over the phone.”

“It’s amazing!” Nines splayed one hand on the table and grabbed Gavin’s arm with his other. “This guy here! This guy here! Found a clue that led to a major ring bust! I’m talking gigantic. And it was something everyone had missed for like, months! He’s a genius I tell you.”

Gavin blushed and failed to suppress a smile. He looked away. “Well, it helps when my partner is so well organized.”

Connor scoffed. “Nines? Organized?”

“Hell, yeah, I am,” Nines said, moving to wrap his arm around Gavin’s shoulders. “Thanks, babe.”

“I think I liked you two better when you were aggressively avoiding your feelings for each other.”

“Awww you’re just jealous,” Nines teased.

“As if. I’d never want to be that disgustingly cute.”

“Did you hear that?” Nines asked Gavin. “He thinks we’re cute.”

“Well, he’s not wrong.”

Nines laughed and kissed him briefly. “Okay! So, what shall we do with our day?”

“If you suggest a bagel shop I am going to slap you,” Connor said.

“But there’s one just down the street that lets you make your own bagels!”

“Not a chance!”

The twins continued to argue and Gavin and Hank just smiled at each other. Life, for once, was finally right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S DONE HOLY SHIT IT"S DONE!!!!
> 
> Once again a big thank you to everyone who has been here with me, witnessing the strange breaks and bursts as I've written this. I love you all.  
> And to everyone who is just discovering it, thank you for taking the time to read it, I appreciate it more than you can know.
> 
> Much love to everyone <3


End file.
